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Does the phrase 恐竜ガール make sense? I reads it as Dinosaur Girl.

I also thought of 恐竜の女の子, but then I realize that it translates as dinosaur of girl, which I do not want.

If the first is wrong and makes no sense, what is the correct way to write Dinosaur Girl?

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  • I want to mention that 恐竜の女の子 is under no circumstances "dinosaur of girl". If anything, it would be "girl of dinosaur". But, it sounds more like a girl who is a dinosaur, a dinosaur girl. That said, 恐竜の女子 or 恐竜女子 sound better to me for the effect you want. It's still ambiguous, though, without context. – Nick Overacker Jul 5 '16 at 13:33
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恐竜ガール is a natural combination of words, but its meaning is ambiguous.

  1. A (human) girl who loves dinosaurs. A big dinosaur fan. Like this.
  2. A wild human girl who lives with dinosaurs. Like this.
  3. A female child of dinosaurs. Like this.

Despite the ambiguity, 恐竜ガール sounds natural and "interesting" to me as a book title, etc., all the more for its ambiguity.

But I would like to note that 恐竜ガール is likely to be taken in the first sense (ie, "a dinosaur fan") these days. Perhaps many people will take this phrase in the first sense right away. In the last few years, this ○○ガール meaning "(female) ○○ fan" is regarded as "trendy" by some, and I hear many similar expressions, for example, 山ガール, 森ガール, 数学ガール.

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  • @JohnMooney I replaced my answer after you checked this as the best answer. While I believe my answer is better now, please feel free to uncheck and ask for other answers. – naruto Jul 4 '16 at 11:25
  • Can it be understood in a metaphorical sense as well? Like "this girl is a beast!" or something along these lines. Meaning that she can do something amazing like crazy athletic tricks, or maybe even that she's very good at 逆ナンパ, almost as if she's "eating" all the boys? – kuchitsu Jul 5 '16 at 14:19
  • Well, 恐竜女子 seems to mean such a woman (I didn't know that)! I don't know why ○○ガール and ○○女子 refer to the different genres of stereotypes... – naruto Jul 5 '16 at 15:05

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