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Sun 12 Mar, 2017 08:39 am
When you say "a boy's toy", does it mean "a toy of the boy" or "a toy of a boy"? Similarly, when you say "the boy's toy", does it mean "the toy of the boy" or "the toy of a boy" or other?
All of those meanings are possible, depending on context.
I did not deserve that thumbs down, for a perfectly true statement.
"A boy's toy" can mean a type or class of toy mainly played with by boys - a plastic gun is a boy's toy; a model truck is a boy's toy. It could also mean a particular toy owned by a boy - a boy's toy caused an accident when it became jammed under the brake pedal of his father's car. That I what I meant by context.
"The boy's toy", means a toy (of any type) owned by a particular boy.
@centrox,
Thanks very much, Centrox. Thumbs down was not my job. Thank you for an exhaustive reply, indeed.
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