Quote:
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Originally Posted by Unregistered given this sentence:
The old general feels bad.
"old" is a adjective and "general" is a noun.
Now given this sentence:
The surgeon general feels bad.
Why is "surgeon" a noun and "general" a adjective?
I would expect "surgeon" to be a adjective and "general" to be a noun.
Can anybody please explain this?
Thank you in advance. |
Placing an adjective after a noun is an extremely infrequent occurence in English. However, it can happen. It would be done to make a strong statement.
surgeon general - If we say "general surgeon" it's not necessarily apparent and clear that this surgeon is the one in charge of the U.S. public health service.
http://dictionary.reference.com/sear...urgeon+general
It comes to mind with "things".
They have an interest in things American it would seem.
things American - things that are American
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...gs+american%22
They have an interest in things European. - things that are European
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...gs+European%22