I learned today that these words are made out of simple words:

• Giraffe 長頸鹿：long neck deer
• Hippopotamus 河馬：river horse

Many other examples exist of this sort of thing in Chinese.

My question is, how do you say "long neck deer" and not mean "giraffe"? How do you use the same simple words in a sequence yet not mean the formal thing like "giraffe", and vice versa (how do you know a multi-word/character-chain is actually a noun itself)?

I would like to know how you distinguish between casual noun phrases and formal nouns like these examples.

I learned today that these words are made out of simple words:

• Giraffe 長頸鹿：long neck deer
• Hippopotamus 河馬：river horse

Many other examples exist of this sort of thing in Chinese.

My question is, how do you say "long neck deer" and not mean "giraffe"? How do you use the same simple words in a sequence yet not mean the formal thing like "giraffe", and vice versa (how do you know a multi-word/character-chain is actually a noun itself)?

I would like to know how you distinguish between casual noun phrases and formal nouns like these examples.