pony

See also: Pony

English

New Forest pony (1)

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊni/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊni/
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊni

Etymology 1

1659 from Scots powny, apparently from Middle French poulenet (“little foal”), ultimately from Late Latin pullanus (“young of an animal”), from pullus (cognate to English foal). Sense “small serving of alcohol” from 19th century, both for small sizes generally and for a quarter pint specifically, from the small size.[1]

Noun

pony (plural ponies)

A small horse; specifically, any of several small breeds of horse under 14.2 hands at the withers.
a contraption built like a mount, strong enough to support one's weight
(regional) A small serving of an alcoholic beverage, especially beer.
- 1879, “Some Queer Interviews: Interview with a Pony of Beer”, Puck, Vol. 5–6, p. 435
- 1885, New York Journal, August:[2]
  ‘I’m on the inside track,’ said a pony of beer as it went galloping down a man’s throat.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 193:
  Demon popped into his mouth a last morsel of black bread with elastic samlet, gulped down a last pony of vodka and took his place at the table with Marina facing him across its oblong length.
- 2010, Dick Lynas, Pies Were for Thursdays: Tales from an Ordinary Glasgow East End Childhood, page 283,
  I did not even know what a ‘pony’, a small chaser of beer, was. But of course I could not admit that. So putting on an air of nonchalance, and a deep voice, I strolled into a pub with one of the other equally naive guys and we ordered two ponies of beer.
  ‘McEwans?’ asked the barman.
  ‘Naw - ponies’ said I.
(Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia) A serving of 140 millilitres of beer (formerly 5 fl oz); a quarter pint.
(UK, slang) Twenty-five pounds sterling.
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, OCLC 2057953:
  “You said a pony,” interposed Clavering; “my dear fellow, you said a pony, and I’ll be eternally obliged to you; and I’ll not take it as a gift—only as a loan, and pay you back in six months. I take my oath, I will.”
  “Well—well—there’s the money, Sir Francis Clavering. […] Here’s five-and-twenty for you.
(US, slang) A translation used as a study aid; loosely, a crib, a cheat-sheet.
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.104:
  She kept the dates written down in her Latin 'pony', so she didn't have to bother about who it was.
(slang) A ponytail hairstyle.
- 2012, Amlynn Smith, Lost and Found (page 18)
  His hair is a semilong dull red and pulled back in a sloppy pony at the base of his neck, and his face is riddled with small freckles and grease, but out here I can see personal hygiene isn't exactly at the top of the priority list.
(automotive, slang) One horsepower.
How many ponies are under the hood?
(slang) A chorus girl of small stature.
- 1941, Thoda Cocroft, Great Names and how They are Made (page 140)
  He suggested a Rose Ballet in which he would use the G. V. Follies chorus girls, chiefly the ponies and mediums.
(slang, derogatory, video games) Ellipsis of Sony pony.

Synonyms

horseling (small horse)
buck (mount)

Derived terms

anypony
Asturian pony
baloney pony
brony
cowpony
dog and pony show
everypony
Jerusalem pony
New Forest pony
one-trick pony
pit pony
play the ponies
polo pony
pony and trap
ponyboy
pony car
pony chaise
pony engine
pony engine
Pony Express
ponyfoot
Ponygate
ponygirl
pony glass
pony keg
ponykind
ponyless
ponylike
ponyplay
pony putter
ponyskin
ponytail
pony truck
pony truck
pony truss
pony up
ride the cotton pony
room for a pony
shanks' pony
Shetland pony
spanking pony

Descendants

→ Danish: pony
→ Dutch: pony
- → Indonesian: poni
→ Finnish: poni
→ French: poney
- → Romanian: ponei
→ Georgian: პონი (ṗoni)
→ German: Pony
- → Estonian: poni
→ Hungarian: póni
→ Irish: pónaí
→ Italian: pony
→ Japanese: ポニー (ponī)
→ Lithuanian: ponis
→ Maltese: poni
→ Norwegian: ponni
→ Portuguese: pónei, pônei
→ Russian: пони (poni)
→ Spanish: poni
→ Swedish: ponny

Translations

small horse

Arabic: فَرَس قَزَم‎ m or f (faras qazam)
Armenian: պոնի (hy) (poni)
Azerbaijani: poni
Belarusian: по́ні m (póni)
Breton: pone (br) m
Bulgarian: по́ни m (póni)
Catalan: poni (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 矮種馬／矮种马 (ǎizhǒngmǎ), 小馬／小马 (zh) (xiǎomǎ)
Cornish: hobba m
Czech: poník m
Danish: pony (da) c
Dutch: pony (nl) m
Esperanto: ĉevaleto, poneo
Estonian: poni
Finnish: poni (fi)
French: poney (fr) m
Galician: faco m, arricallo m, barroufeiro m, faquitrós m, gurrufeiro m
Georgian: პონი (ṗoni)
German: Pony (de) n, Kleinpferd (de) n
Greek:
Ancient: πωλίον n (pōlíon)
Hungarian: póni (hu)
Icelandic: smáhestur m
Ido: poneo (io), kavaleto (io)
Indonesian: kuda poni, kuda kerdil
Irish: pónaí m, capaillín m, gearrchapall m
Italian: pony (it) m
Japanese: 子馬 (ja) (こうま, kouma), 仔馬 (ja) (こうま, kouma), 小馬 (こうま, kouma), ポニー (ja) (ponī)
Kazakh: пони (poni)
Korean: 조랑말 (jorangmal)
Latin: mannus m, caballio m
Latvian: ponijs m
Lithuanian: ponis m
Macedonian: пони n (poni)
Malay: kuda padi
Maltese: poni m
Manx: garran m
Maori: poni, pone
Norman: pônîn m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ponni (no) m
Nynorsk: ponni m
Persian: پونی‎ (poni), اسبچه‎ (fa) (asbče)
Plautdietsch: Poonkje n
Polish: kuc (pl) m
Portuguese: pônei (pt) m
Romanian: ponei (ro) m
Russian: по́ни (ru) m (póni)
Scottish Gaelic: pònaidh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пони m
Roman: poni (sh) m
Slovak: poník (sk) m
Slovene: poni (sl) m
Spanish: poni (es) m, caballito (es) m
Swedish: ponny (sv) c
Turkish: midilli (tr)
Ukrainian: по́ні m (póni)
Vietnamese: ngựa pôni
Volapük: jevodil (vo), (obsolete) smajeval, (obsolete) jevalil
Welsh: merlen f, merlyn m

Verb

pony (third-person singular simple present ponies, present participle ponying, simple past and past participle ponied)

(transitive) To lead (a horse) from another horse.
To use a crib or cheat-sheet in translating.

Etymology 2

Clipping of pony and trap, rhyming with crap.

Adjective

pony (not comparable)

(Cockney rhyming slang) Of little worth.

Noun

pony (plural ponies)

(Cockney rhyming slang) Crap; rubbish, nonsense.

References

Notes and Queries, August 8th, 1896, p. 126: “It seems probable the origin is due to the diminutiveness of the glass;”
“The expression ‘a pony of beer’ is often used in South Wales for a small glass containing about the fourth of a pint.”
Americanisms, Farmer, p. 430

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.ni/
(uncommon, in the meaning “pony, small horse”) IPA^(key): /ˈpoː.ni/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: po‧ny
Rhymes: -ɔni

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English pony.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.ni/, (uncommon) /ˈpoː.ni/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: po‧ny
Rhymes: -ɔni

Noun

pony m (plural pony's, diminutive pony'tje n)

A pony, small horse breed.

Derived terms

ponyhaar
verzorgpony

Descendants

→ Indonesian: poni

Etymology 2

Shortened back from ponyhaar.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.ni/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: po‧ny
Rhymes: -ɔni

Noun

pony n or m (plural pony's, diminutive pony'tje n)

A hairstyle with a fringe/bangs.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English pony.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.ni/
Rhymes: -ɔni
Hyphenation: pò‧ny

Noun

pony m (invariable)

pony
pony express

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈponi/ [ˈpo.ni]
Rhymes: -oni
Syllabification: po‧ny

Noun

pony m (plural ponys)

pony

[1] Notes and Queries, August 8th, 1896, p. 126: “It seems probable the origin is due to the diminutiveness of the glass;”
“The expression ‘a pony of beer’ is often used in South Wales for a small glass containing about the fourth of a pint.”

[2] Americanisms, Farmer, p. 430