If you could rename a pony...

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I don't think Steamer's that unfortunate.

[MJNSEIFER]

I guess it depends on how you hear it - the silly thing is, I probably wouldn't have even thought of it until I heard other people saying it.

I'm not even sure really...

[Miniature Sheep]

For me, Posey will always be Tulips, because that what I called her when I was a kid - my sister and I were very literal in the names we gave to our ponies, such as Baby Up, Up and Away being called 'Balloons' and Sleepy Head being 'PJs'.
Also much as I love the pony herself, I've never been keen on Heart Throb's name; the texture of the word 'throb' is just immensely unpleasant to my mind. Not sure what I'd call her as an alternative, though. Maybe to honour my childhood tradition of literal names, she could be called 'Love-Wings' or something.

[MJNSEIFER]

On the subject of Up, Up and Away, I'm in two minds about the name.  On the one hand, I love the name, as I can't resist singing it in my mind when I read it, but on the other, it feels too much of a sentence to be a name at least sometimes.  It feels more like an episode title at times (which it was), than a pony's name.

[LadyAmalthea]

I named my childhood Sparkler 'Tiffany' when I got her, because she was my very first pony and I didn't yet realize they came packaged with names. My sister had a friend named Tiffany and I just thought it was pretty, I guess.


Post Merge: July 06, 2020, 06:29:21 AM

I like your ideas LaW!

I And I suppose I like to switch twins Doodles & Noodles' names around- I call the blue one Doodles, & pink one Noodles.

I always called my blue twin Doodles and pink twin Noodles too...I don't remember if I just didn't know they were supposed to be the other way around and randomly assigned them their names, or I did know and willfully switched them (probably the latter!), but to this day, I have a hard time thinking of them with their correct names.

[Fizzy Scrumptious]

Who would it be and why? Maybe you’re attached to the name you gave them as a kid before you knew their packaged name, maybe you think the family ponies need some individuality, or maybe the original doesn’t sit with you. Regardless, share what name you would change if you could, and what name you would go with!

I’ll get the touchy one out of the way; Gypsy is a pretty name if you don’t know much about the cultural context, but I’d maybe go with Bangles, Jangles, or just Tamborine. Heh, maybe Tamberine, as a mix of the instrument with Tangerine for her color.

Ooh I love Jangles or Tambourine for her replacement name, I'm glad to see someone acknowledge that Gypsy might need a name change. I like the idea of mixing tangerine and tambourine - Tamberine? Tangourine?

On the subject of Up, Up and Away, I'm in two minds about the name.  On the one hand, I love the name, as I can't resist singing it in my mind when I read it, but on the other, it feels too much of a sentence to be a name at least sometimes.  It feels more like an episode title at times (which it was), than a pony's name.

I agree it's so long! It's a fun name but it's hard to even shorten it. Like, what would you call her, Up?

A certain wall-eyed pegasus. Or possibly a certain unfortunately-named fashion pony.

I like Muffins or Bubbles for her a lot more than her OG name. "Ditzy" is cuter too, while still alluding to the name that the fanbase gave her

[Taffeta]

I'll have to think what I'd call them - it's challenging enough thinking of names for my own ponies, but the first ones I think of are the ones who essentially aren't even named, and/or just have basic names to describe what they are.

I mean ponies like "Miss Painter" and "Miss Teacher" - spend a whole day on them, did you Hasbro?


I don't mind duplicate names too much, when naming my ponies I've found I've used names of real ponies without noticing, but if I like the name, I just stick with it, and make it a different pony.  Pretty much what Hasbro themselves did.

Hip Holly in French is also Miss Gadget. (Inspector Gadget flashback anyone?) I think it comes from that; I have a feeling they're french-origin names.

I like Up Up's French name. It's "Montgolfiere".

And in answer to what you call her. Well, that's what I call her. Up Up. :p. Is that not what everyone else calls her for short?

Going back to what Ponyfan said about Woosie, thinking about it, most of the Happytails ponies sound like they've had a hard night of partying. Goodness knows what inspired them.

There are also some interesting connitations for Crumpet (though she wasn't sold in the UK so it probably doesn't matter), and of course the infamous Kiwi Tart who happened to be sold first in New Zealand if I remember rightly...

[CloudyGlow]

I like the name Muffins best for the bubbly G4 pegasus. I think it's valid to use that name because she is credited as Muffins on more than one episode where she speaks. I just wish the whole letting the bronies name her never happened.

[little.fox]

I always think of G3 Sunrise Song as an update of Mimic, so I would definitely change her name to that. And kept her yellow!

Floater and Pillow Talk really need new names too!

[MJNSEIFER]

I'm always going to like "Pillow Talk", because I have a nostalgic attachment to her name, even though I know why people find it to be an "iffy" name.

I know this will cause controversy, but I also don't mind the brony name for the "Muffin" pegasus.  The thing is, that name, doesn't necessarily mean anything bad, as it's a made up word.  If people have used it to mean the "R" word then... understandable, I guess, but the word was never meant to mean that - the point of the word was supposed to be "I made a mistake" from what I understand, so the whole reason used the term was probably because she became famous from an animation error - she wasn't supposed to be scene with her eyes like that, so it was a mistake, hence her name.  It was never intended to be offensive, and to me, it isn't.  If anything, saying she is, is more so (and no, this isn't a brony thing - it goes more than that.)

If anyone is offended by this reply I'll delete it, or you can, and I'll try not to say it again.  I know it's a touchy subject here.

I will say, as much as I like it, it doesn't really fit in with MLP, but I stick to it out of nostalgia.

[Taffeta]

With the Muffin pony, the thing is that the brony community use/d those disability perjoratives freely. Hence the connection was made and that's I think why it's considered an offensive name.

That said, and even as an autistic person, I also don't find the Muffin pony name offensive. I find the community that spawned it offensive, but until I understood exactly where it had come from, I saw it as just a word that meant a scatterbrain or someone who made mistakes a lot. And so personally I'm not offended by the pony's name.

On the subject of Pillow Talk, the whole set really has implications when you put the names together. Pink Dreams, Sleepy Head, Sleep Tight, and Nightcap. Yes, another wild Hasbro party on the cards.

And on that note, Kiss & Tell...heck, even Kiss & Make Up...what's going on there? The morals completely collapsed. The US set had banal but less questionable names in Happy Hugs and Lovin' Kisses...

I have a real problem with Kiss & Tell. That's not something you should be teaching young girls.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Changing her name would be to punish the bronies for being ableists and being spoiled brats.

The other G4 pony I really want to rename - a certain unfortunately-named seamstress from Season 4 - is possibly one of the biggest cases of Hasbro US being stupid with regard to selecting pony names, and a prime example of US ignorance. That choice was so bad that they need to redub the episode and recall, destroy, and replace the DVDs containing it. Or have they already fixed it?

A G1 pony who badly needs a rename is the Surprise Twins Pony. Because her "name" is just a description and not a real name.

[Taffeta]

Changing her name would be to punish the bronies for being ableists and being spoiled brats.

There is that. But it's not all bronies who fit that category. I personally have the FS one and I still don't know what to call her. I feel like her name is an image, and I don't know how to pronounce that image. My mother and I had a discussion about her tonight, and between us we came up with 'Dusk' as a new name for her.

I don't know what the name of that seamstress is but now I'm going to hit google.

I call Surprise Twins pony "Missile Launcher." But her card story actually calls her "Mummy Pony" which is even worse...

[MJNSEIFER]

With the Muffin pony, the thing is that the brony community use/d those disability perjoratives freely. Hence the connection was made and that's I think why it's considered an offensive name.

That said, and even as an autistic person, I also don't find the Muffin pony name offensive. I find the community that spawned it offensive, but until I understood exactly where it had come from, I saw it as just a word that meant a scatterbrain or someone who made mistakes a lot. And so personally I'm not offended by the pony's name.

Aside from one comment on some other site (a site I have never associated myself with) I've always felt that bronies only ever used it to mean "someone who makes mistakes a lot" - the idea that she had a disability or anything that could lead to the character being deemed offensive, I always assumed, came from the complaints about her, as it always came out of left field to me.  I can only comment about the bronies that I was looking at, but it looked like none of them even considered making her anything more than "a clumsy pony who means well", if even that.  Even if she was just there to be clumsy, there was no offensive joke behind it in the circles I was following.

It is unfair of me to derail this further, so if people want to talk about this further, would it be okay if I request either another thread or you PM me?  I know I started it, but I don't want to ruin the thread more than I have done.

On the subject of Pillow Talk, the whole set really has implications when you put the names together. Pink Dreams, Sleepy Head, Sleep Tight, and Nightcap. Yes, another wild Hasbro party on the cards.

Aside from "Nightcap" relating to alcohol, the rest of the names seem pretty cute and innocent to me.  The silly thing is, part of the "story" (such as it is) as to why I have a nostalgic attachment to the name Pillow Talk relates to a song that from what I can see was thinking of the term in the non-innocent way (even though it was kind of "chicken and egg" as the song reminds me of the pony and the pony reminds me of the song), though I do see the name from it's innocent perspective, mainly, like talking before you sleep during a slumber party or whatever.

And on that note, Kiss & Tell...heck, even Kiss & Make Up...what's going on there? The morals completely collapsed. The US set had banal but less questionable names in Happy Hugs and Lovin' Kisses...

Kiss & Make Up seems okay, as it's suppsoedly a childish way of appologising, but Kiss and Tell... yeah... I see what you mean there.

The other G4 pony I really want to rename - a certain unfortunately-named seamstress from Season 4 - is possibly one of the biggest cases of Hasbro US being stupid with regard to selecting pony names, and a prime example of US ignorance. That choice was so bad that they need to redub the episode and recall, destroy, and replace the DVDs containing it. Or have they already fixed it?

Coco Pommel's name changed because  Coco Chanel told them not to use her name.  Personally, I would have just deleted the last name and gone with Coco, as that could be anybody.

In Hasbro's defences, I didn't even know it had Nazi connections either, and do many people since her brand is still very famous.

A G1 pony who badly needs a rename is the Surprise Twins Pony. Because her "name" is just a description and not a real name.

Agreed, that is what I basically mean about ponies who are "not named".  It's not the same as "Miss Teacher" or whatever, but it is, like you say, a description of the pony, not "her name".

[Heelys]

Regardless of whether Muffin pony’s old name is negative to the disabled community, I say we ditch it because I think it convinced some people that it is a real word meaning Wall-Eyed. Seriously, I’ve heard people believe that with no awareness.