The Term Any/Some/No Pony

[Cwanky 17,602]

 

 

Yes Twilight why can't you and your friends be more reasonable when it comes to addressing anyBODY, not just anyPONY? Its perhaps just a few folks like me but it rather irks me how the citizens of Equestria and ponies elsewhere choose to address a collective group as any/some/no pony, even if a sizable group of the populace addressed in question aren't in fact ponies at all, or considered as such. 

 

So the better question I feel compelled to ask is, who does the term pony apply to and why is it applied? Is it a simple matter of Equestrian grammar and linguistics or is it an implicitly form of racial and national identity, like  the terms American or British? Even the non-ponies in Equestria, say for example the Donkey Cranky, use the term applying it to themselves. In fact, someone may correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't recalled the term Equestrian being used to refer to any group of people. Sure for events, locations and places, but not people. This might be justifiable for races species like donkeys, mules, and sentient livestock as well as accepted or assimilated characters like Spike and Zecora, but the use of the term suggests, unintentionally or not, a bias or dominance over other equally worthy beings.

 

Even Princess Celestia herself refers to her vassals as my little ponies, though of course a lot of the times she's addressing the Mane 6 so this might be understandable. I still regard her as probably the most rational and progressive of the characters, as in being open to everyone, considering the many subtle gestures she does for others, but the tone and implications are still there. It would be very interesting to see how Celestia interacts with non pony characters like the bison, Zecora, or even the cattle so I'll be hopeful to see her progress in this and many other dynamics in the future seasons.

 

Yes the show is called My Little Pony, but its also called and its main theme is Friendship is Magic regardless of whether you're a pony, brony, zebra, donkey or even a human (as seen in Equestria Girls).

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

I suppose they refer to it as anypony because it's the general populace. It's a given that ponies mostly inhabit towns like Ponyville or Canterlot so that would make sense.

 

Note in The Cutie Pox; Twilight says not somepony....somezebra! It proves that there's multiple ways to call out multiple races. Since ponies are the majority they use that races variation.

[Dzastur 1,719]

Because...The Smurfs.

 

I think it's partially a homage to "Smurfing" words and phrases, and to other cartoons which have done something similar. It's cute and silly, and this matches at least part of the spirit of the show.

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

AJ says "Everyone" when she is singing her part in Winter Wrap Up thus referring to the fact that her produce feeds all species, not just ponies. Furthermore, we do not know that "Everypony" is used throughout equestria as the only cities we really see are the Crystal Kingdom, Apploosa, Ponyville, and Canterlot where the main population includes...PONIES

 

It is my theory, however, that since we see little of other species that long ago the ponies held war with all other animals finding them unpure and defeated them all in a grand war of chaos!

 

(That or every species decends from ponies. This includes cows and dogs. Fact.)

[Scootalove 10,689]

I guess the ponies say everypony, anypony, nopony even if the species aren't ponies or if they are ponies. I guess they use it to identify all of the ponies that are around and they say it basically in each region in which their whole population is ponies including other animals so it is pretty necessary.

[Cwanky 17,602]

I suppose they refer to it as anypony because it's the general populace. It's a given that ponies mostly inhabit towns like Ponyville or Canterlot so that would make sense.

 

Note in The Cutie Pox; Twilight says not somepony....somezebra! It proves that there's multiple ways to call out multiple races. Since ponies are the majority they use that races variation.

This is what I'm thinking as well. Though again with characters like Zecora it may be more acceptable in use since by that time post Bridle Gossip, she's already been "accepted" by the rest of the ponies and allowed to integrate into their society. It doesn't seem to be used within the vicinity of the bisons though.

 

The other odd thing is this concept isn't universally applied. I don't recall once that the bison ever referred to themselves as "every/some/no bison" or the dragons and cattle in their own territories. This is considering as well that the bison and dragons consider themselves fiercely independent and have their own sense of self worth and identity.

 

Unfortunately what is meant to be something cute in the show actually seems to come off as rather arrogant and even "racial superiority" for more critical viewers like myself. It may be a cartoon and kids show, but it does attempt to address crucial themes like friendship, virtues and yes race and identity as seen in Dragon Quest and Bridle Gossip. Its just my hope that the show better addresses these issues in the future.

[Toa of Ponies 259]

Yeah It can be pretty annoying sometimes, but I think its funny sometimes.

 

 

But at least its not as annoying as those Idiotic little blue dudes who say it in every word ever

[smokebomb 9]

Or....

it may have just been a simple slip-up by the script writers. In any case, I always laughed at the term when I was a brand new Brony (...2 weeks ago...), and now am almost tempted to start using it in real life lol and my jaw literally dropped when I played your video. I didn't know there were such slip ups!

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

I love this! In Return to Harmony, when AppleJack is supposed to only tell lies, she says that "Nopony whatsoever" was talking to her, when she was talking to Discord. Since this is a lie, she was talking to a pony. So, I'm guessing it's just an expression used by ponies.

[Cwanky 17,602]

Necro of an old topic of mine but I think this season and beyond, perhaps even into cuture generations, the Mane 6 will have to deal with more than just “every pony” around them. Well at least Applejack is wise enough to realize how awkward and coumsy that term is: