Slang of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
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The My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom (also known as the brony fandom) has developed a distinctive vernacular language and fanilect, often referred to as bronyspeak, since the show's premiere in 2010.
The vocabulary draws heavily from the show's content, character names, and fictional universe of Equestria, and speakers often adapt standard English words with pony-themed prefixes or creating portmanteaus that blend pony-related terms with existing concepts. Notable examples include ponysona (a personalized pony character representing the creator), ponification (transforming non-pony entities into pony form), and music terms like dubtrot (a brony version of dubstep). Bronyspeak emerged as part of what researchers term bronylore, which builds upon the show's official ponyspeak where human phrases were recast in equine terms. The language encompasses direct adoptions from show dialogue (e.g. everypony as a substitution for everybody), portmanteaus, and snowclone variations of popular quotes from the show itself or from its derivative works.
Hasbro officially acknowledged the fandom and its distinctive language in 2011 through promotional materials referencing bronies directly. The vernacular has since attracted academic attention as an example of Internet-enabled folk culture; researchers have noted its functions in creating community belonging, establishing behavioral boundaries, and enforcing codes of niceness that prevent social rejection within the fandom. Studies have identified bronyspeak as both a gatekeeping mechanism requiring learning for full community membership and a continuous performance of group identity in online spaces. Researchers have also noted that bronyspeak extends outside of Internet communities, often pervading into real life via brony conventions or meetups.
History
[edit]Early development (2010–2011)
[edit]
Bronyspeak emerged and developed as part of what Bill Ellis termed bronylore, a distinctive form of web-based verbal and visual art created by the show's adult fanbase. The vernacular speech system built upon the show's official ponyspeak, where human social phrases were recast in equine terms within the series itself. For example, words like everybody and anyone became everypony and anypony.[3] The term brony itself was an early example of this wordplay, created as a portmanteau of bro and pony.[2] Similarly, the community coined brohoof to describe a ponified version of high-fiving (a portmanteau of brofist and hoof), where characters touched their hooves together in greeting. Words like everypony and brohoof became standard within the fandom's online spaces.[2][1]
Fans described their communication system as bronyspeak, conducting it almost exclusively in English with references to the show mixed in as "just a different register, solely created online."[4] Researchers described the incorporation of elements of oral urban slang in the fan-created language as a hybrid of official show terminology with transgressive digital communication styles. This evolution included playful use of abbreviations and emoticons, and also vulgar and adult terminology.[2]
Growth, spread, and official recognition (2011–present)
[edit]Hasbro officially recognized the brony fandom and, implicitly, their distinctive lingo on May 27, 2011, when The Hub released a promotional video for the series called "Equestria Girls" done in the style of a music video parodying Katy Perry's "California Gurls". The song features the lyrics: "Our Bronies, Hang out too, 'Cause they know we're awesome fillies" accompanied by Spike shouting: "Come on, Bronies!" The exclusive online premiere of the video was given to Equestria Daily a day before the promo would air on television. According to Shaun Scotellaro, the e-mail he received from The Hub claimed that the reference to Bronies was done explicitly as a "tribute to our favorite Pony fans."[5]
In July 2011, a 26-page long bronyspeak dictionary called Mareiam-Websteed Dictionary was published on Equestria Daily.[6] The New York Daily News reported on this dictionary, specifying words like Scootabuse with the definition "You should be ashamed of yourself." and zebra as "Cheap racism simulator." Other words included Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome, neighsayer, and horseapples.[7]
Usage
[edit]
Some words in bronyspeak are terms adopted directly from the show, which tend to be equine versions of human terms.
- everyone → everypony
- someone → somepony
- kingdom → ponydom
- mankind → ponykind
- ladies and gentlemen → fillies and gentlecolts
- Oh my god! → Oh my Celestia!
Some terms are portmanteaus of a pony-related term and a non-pony-related term.
Some are snowclones, often derived from quotes from the show.
- My Little Pony → My Little Human, My Little Dashie, etc.
- Dear Princess Celestia → Dear Princess [X]
- Friendship Is Magic → Fighting Is Magic, Friendship Is Witchcraft, etc.
- "It needs to be about 20% cooler" → [X]% cooler
Examples
[edit]| Term | Definition | Etymology/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| everypony | everybody | Direct adoption from show dialogue |
| anypony | anybody | Direct adoption from show dialogue |
| somepony | somebody | Direct adoption from show dialogue |
| nopony | nobody | Direct adoption from show dialogue |
| fillies and gentlecolts | ladies and gentlemen | Direct adoption from show dialogue |
| hoofmade | handmade | [8] |
| what the hay | what the heck, what the fuck | [8] |
| /) (\ | hoofbump | Represents emoticons of two hooves[8] |
| cutie mark | symbol representing a pony's special talent | Direct adoption from show dialogue; a play on beauty mark |
| brony | adult fan of My Little Pony | Portmanteau of bro and pony |
| pegasister | adult female fan of My Little Pony | Combination of pegasus and sister |
| brohoof | fandom greeting gesture | Portmanteau of brofist and hoof |
| ponysona | personalized pony character representing the creator | Portmanteau of pony and persona |
| ponification | process of transforming non-pony entities into pony form | Combination of pony and suffix -ification |
| clop / clopping | masturbation | Onomatopoeia referencing hoof sounds |
| dubtrot | pony electronic dance music genre | Combination of dubstep and trot[9] |
| 20% cooler | expression of approval | Reference to Rainbow Dash's catchphrase |
| buck | fuck | Reference to bucking |
| plot | flank | Reference to "I watch it for the plot"[10] |
Analysis
[edit]Bronyspeak has gained academic attention as an example of Internet-enabled vernacular culture. Folklore researchers recognized it as a distinctive emic folk speech that simultaneously expressed institutional culture while seeking to be distinct from it,[11] which they identified as the hybrid nature of digital vernacular traditions that both drew from and challenged mainstream cultural norms.[2]
According to Ellis, the anonymous nature of Internet communication platforms facilitated bronyspeak's development, as participants used pseudonyms and online handles rather than their real identities. This encouraged rule-bending and aggressive linguistic play, which allowed the community to create increasingly transgressive terminology, for example, in words like clopping (a bronyspeak word for masturbation).[2]
Justin Mullis observed in his 2015 study of the brony fandom that its lingo represented part of what could be understood as "recreational religious activity".[5]
Venetia Robertson, in her study of the brony fandom, wrote that the use of brony slang by members of the community functions as signs of belonging and behavioral boundaries for members of the fandom. Robertson noted that bronies created catchphrases and snowclones from the lines of dialogue of the show, invented new terms like brohoof, and that the motto of the was "love and tolerate".[1]
Nicolai Hansen of the Copenhagen Business School wrote that the specialized language functions as a continuous performance of membership that is "embodied and continuously exercised". He also noted that the lingo serves as a gatekeeping mechanism, in which the dialect must be learned to fully belong to the community. Hansen also compared the lingo to that of Beliebers—fans of pop icon Justin Bieber—and characterized it as less sophisticated, describing Belieber language as "fangirl-language" and "chatter language" defined primarily by its deficiencies in punctuation, verb tenses, capitalization, and syntax, rather than as a creative linguistic innovation.[8]
According to Jon Coumes of The American Prospect, brony communities developed their distinctive language alongside "codes of community-enforced niceness" designed to ensure that "nopony" would experience social rejection.[12]
See also
[edit]- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan fiction
- Art of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
- Music of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
- My Little Pony fan convention
- Online communities of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
- Internet slang
- Fandom
- Leet
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Robertson, Venetia Laura Delano (2014). "Of ponies and men: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the Brony fandom". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 17 (1). SAGE Publishing: 21–37. doi:10.1177/1367877912464368.
- ^ a b c d e f Ellis, Bill (2015). "What Bronies See When They Brohoof: Queering Animation on the Dark and Evil Internet". Journal of American Folklore. 128 (509). University of Illinois Press: 298–314. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.128.509.0298.
- ^ Weinman, Jaime (2011-09-07). "Men who love 'My Little Pony'". Maclean's. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
- ^ Cantwell, Christiane-Marie (2020). "The Language of the Masses (of Online Media)". JournalLing. McGill University.
- ^ a b Mullis, Justin P (2015). Playing Ponies: A Critical Evaluation of Religious Elements and Gender Politics at Work in "Brony" Fandom (Master of Arts thesis). University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
- ^ Scotellaro, Shaun (2011-07-08). "Extensive Brony Dictionary". Equestria Daily. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
- ^ Feldman, Kate; Bietette, Nicole (2015-10-29). "Brony speak: The best phrases from the 'My Little Pony' fandom dictionary". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
- ^ a b c d Hansen, Nicolai Puggaard (1 June 2016). Fandom in the Digital Age: An exploration of value co-creation in online fan communities (Thesis). Copenhagen Business School.
- ^ Orsini, Lauren Rae (2012-04-21). "For brony musicians, 'Friendship Is Magic' serves as muse". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Angel, Rebecca (2012-05-27). "In Defense of Bronies". Wired. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ Howard, Robert Glenn (2015). "Introduction: Why Digital Network Hybridity Is the New Normal (Hey! Check This Stuff Out)". Journal of American Folklore. 128 (509): 247–259. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.128.509.0247.
- ^ Coumes, Jon (2013-04-08). "What Do Men's Rights Activists and Bronies Have in Common?". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
