can you tell me what's the difference between them?

@wqdayang (137)
China
June 26, 2012 6:11am CST
The rope skipping is an interesting sport, but now I'm confused,I can't distinguish between "rope skipping" and "skipping rope",can you tell me?
2 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
26 Jun 12
"Rope skipping" describes the activity of skipping with a rope. A "skipping rope" is the rope used in such activity. English relies on word order a great deal so that the operative or important word is usually the second one in the phrase and the first word is the defining or limiting one. A 'cat lady' would be a lady who likes or looks like a cat; a 'lady cat' would refer to a female cat.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
26 Jun 12
I believe that the same convention works in Chinese. I was reading an article about the Giant Panda, which has many names in Chinese but one of them translates as "bear cat". In Taiwan, this is sometimes written the other way round as "cat bear". The first one describes a 'cat which looks like a bear', while the second one (more properly) describes a 'bear than looks like a cat'.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
26 Jun 12
I meant to write (above): " ... a lady who likes cats or looks like a cat."
@wqdayang (137)
• China
29 Jun 12
Thanks for telling me that above. because each national culture difference,there are various features in language.In the process of English learning,I'm constantly looking for the feeling,this is a long progress but full of fun,sometimes only learn from books is not enough,so I thought of communication with my friends on mylot,I found it very helpful. Yes,Giant Panda is our national treasure of an animal,it is so cute,it does have many names,in all of them,the"Giant Panda" is the most commonly used,"bear cat" also has a small amount of use. Your introduction is very detailed,I learned a lot about that knowledge. Thanks for your help!
• Philippines
26 Jun 12
Rope skipping is the action. Skipping rope is the object used to do the action.
@wqdayang (137)
• China
29 Jun 12
Yes,English is very interesting. The same words,not the same sequence to produce a different meaning. Thanks for your help!