Tom Cat vs Felix the Cat vs The Lion King

[Alexey86]

One question per post, please.

I thought all three questions were related in that they're all about a name's/title's structure.

The King boy is a boy whose surname is King.

You're right, the boy's name is Benjy King. But doesn't the book's title suggest a metaphor?

[Piscean]

You're right, the boy's name is Benjy King. But doesn't the book's title suggest a metaphor?

Not to me.

[jutfrank]

It is also a cartoon character: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_the_Cat.

No, it isn't. This seems to be a point of confusion.

But it doesn't change the question: Why is it The Lion King, not The King Lion?

The word order of The Lion King is another, short, way to say 'the king of the lions'. It doesn't work, or make sense, the other way round.

What's the difference between The King Boy and The Boy King?

I originally had no idea what The King Boy is supposed to mean. It doesn't sound right. Only the light of what you've said about King being his surname allows this to make sense. Think of this as the writer trying to play with words.

The phrase The Boy King is not comparable to The Lion King because it does not mean 'the king of the boys'. In this case it means 'the king who is a boy'.

Is it about the metaphorical (the former) vs literal meaning (the latter) distinction?

I don't know what you mean.

[Alexey86]

No, it isn't. This seems to be a point of confusion.

Here's a cartoon with this character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGbBFsiuzc

The phrase The Boy King is not comparable to The Lion King because it does not mean 'the king of the boys'. In this case it means 'the king who is a boy'.

Let's consider for a moment king an official title, not a surname. If The Boy King means the king who is a boy, would The King Boy mean the boy who is a king?

I don't know what you mean.

I mean King as a surname is meaningful. The author might suggest the boy is in some way like a king, but not in a literal sense: The King Boy = the boy who is (like) a king.

[probus]

Heavens, you must be young, jutfrank. When I was a child, seventy years ago, American television was full of Felix The Cat cartoons. I suppose the networks liked them because they were cheap, being ancient even then.

Betty Boop cartoons were frequent running mates for Felix. They were ancient too, and of course we children failed to understand their raunchy jokes.

[jutfrank]

Heavens, you must be young, jutfrank.

I don't know what I've said to make you think I'm young, probus. I'm quite familiar with Felix the Cat, even though it first appeared well before my time, back in 1919.

[Charlie Bernstein]

It's from Tom and Jerry

Thanks! I didn't know he had a last name.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Heavens, you must be young, jutfrank. When I was a child, seventy years ago, American television was full of Felix The Cat cartoons. I suppose the networks liked them because they were cheap, being ancient even then.

Betty Boop cartoons were frequent running mates for Felix. They were ancient too, and of course we children failed to understand their raunchy jokes.

Yup, Felix with his little bag of tricks. My friend Tony used to do a great Felix imitation: "Open, bag, and give me my hash pipe!"

I had a girlfriend in high school whose aunt was the Betty Boop voice. Marsha could do a pitch-perfect Boop-oop-a-doop. Uncanny.

Which reminds me of a great trivia question: What was the cartoon character's name before they changed it to Betty Boop?

You can probably Google it.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Here's a cartoon with this character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGbBFsiuzc

I used to watch it every Saturday.

Let's consider for a moment king an official title, not a surname. If the boy king means the king who is a boy, would the king boy mean the boy who is a king?

No, we wouldn't switch it around. No one is the king of boys. Boys are often kings. So the adjective boy modifies king.

I mean King as a surname is meaningful.

In real life, the surname has no special significance. In fiction, yes, it can meaningful.

The author might suggest the boy is in some way like a king, but not in a literal sense: The King Boy = the boy who is (like) a king.

It's a good theory, but no one would get it — as Jutfrank said in post #13.

Does that clear up anything?

[Alexey86]

Does that clear up anything?

One thing is not quite clear. When you say you wouldn't switch the boy king around, do you mean the king boy with king as an attributive noun modifying boy wouldn't make sense at all? Or, maybe you can think of a context where it would make sense.