Saturday, October 17, 2015

difference - Why do people say "a bus stop" instead of "a stop of buses"?


We can say a cup of coffee and a coffee cup, both of them make sense. Also, it's fine if we say a bus stop, a crowd of people and a story of passion, but...



...Why does it sound weird when it comes to a stop of buses, a people crowd and a passion story?




Answer




A cup of coffee is a serving style of coffee (you could put coffee in a jug or a glass, but often itis in a cup). A cup of coffee is made of coffee. On the other hand a coffee cup is a type of cup, designed for coffee.


A "bus stop" is not made of buses. It is a type of "stop" intended for use by buses. So you couldn't stay "A stop of buses". That would mean a group of buses arranged to make a stop (?!) I can't imagine what that would look like. You could say "a convoy of buses" or "a traffic jam of buses".


On the other hand, "a crowd of people" is a gathering of people into a crowd. That makes sense. A "people crowd" would be a type of crowd, perhaps one for people to use, or intended to be used on people (?!) Again, I can't imagine what a "people crowd" would look like.


"Passion stories" are real things. They are stories of "the passion (suffering and crucifixion) of Christ" or stories to be told and performed at Easter. They are a type of story.


The "attribute+noun" form tends to mean "a type of noun", that is for the use by, or use on, or related to attribute"


The "noun1 of noun2" is a collection of noun2 to make a noun1


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