Comment by mcswell

3 months ago

I wrote the comment you're referring to, but it wasn't intended as a complete schema, rather as a way of saying two nouns in a compound can be related in most any way. The interpretation is pragmatic and conventional, not syntactic. (And while [W S] is a compound, [W S for L] isn't, it's a (compound) noun plus a prepositional phrase.)

While W S for L is fine in the intended sense, it could just as well mean a subsystem on Linux that runs Windows (like Vine, I guess). Parallel examples might be Brake Pads for Chevys or Oven Cleaner for Microwaves.

As further examples of the weirdness of compound nouns in English, consider Atomic Scientist, which does not mean a scientist who is atomic, but rather an 'ist' (= person) who does atomic science. Likewise Nuclear Physicist, Artificial Intelligence Researcher (at least for now, since AI systems aren't researchers :)).

It's just that Subsystem is a defined term for a component of the NT kernel here. Nobody thinks a "Linux kernel module" is a module for the NT kernel to emulate Linux, but of course it could be, it's just that the term has already a differently defined meaning.