For example, admission to a benefit concert may be afforded by a suggested minimum donation. Or perhaps by a minimum suggested donation. To me, the latter feels not quite right, like the minimum qualifier is being applied to the wrong place.
In fact, I think that adding minimum and suggested should be mutually exclusive here. Either the donation is a suggested amount, or it has a specified minimum. I can see, though, that the intention is to not place a hard limit on the entry fee, otherwise it's not really more than a ticket price. And at the same time, they want to encourage donations that are more than the minimum.
So, given that both adjectives are applied, is there a semantic difference when you switch the order?
Best Answer
The meanings are definitely different in my mind. When you say "minimum suggested donation," you could be emphasizing that the donation is only a suggestion, not required. "Suggested minimum donation" could imply that a donation is required, and it should be at least this amount. There are other ways to interpret either, but these two seemed particularly likely to my ear. Any use of these phrases requires additional context or prior understanding.