Etymology: When Ponies Became G[X]

[Leave a Whisper]

I call them all symbols. I can't stand the term cutie mark, it sounds really stupid to my ears and that was before they started using it in shows.

[Snapdragon]

Woah, that’s so wild!! What’s crazy is I always kind of accepted these terms, and never really stopped to think, gee, who came up with them? That’s so cool!! Kudos to you!

[Carrehz]

I also agree with Carrehz (and Happy Birthday Carrehz!) that new generation terms can't be created until things settle down and you see whether it really is new or something else.

Thank you

I agree that G3 "saved" the line, at least for the US, or, a global thing? Hm, how to put it without it sounding like I'm throwing G2 under the bus. I think if G3 hadn't been the hit it was, or if it hadn't happened at all, I don't think the line would've died but I don't think we'd have had anything like G4, if that makes sense? I think it'd be more like LPS where they revamp it every so often and it does well, it's popular, but it doesn't really have a big media blitz or cartoon or anything. (I know there was a cartoon for one of the recent LPS gens, but that always seemed to be more riding on FiM's popularity than anything) It's just kinda quietly going along in the background. Not sure if that makes sense. But anyway yeah I agree that Certain Parts of the fandom definitely underestimate how important G3 is/was to the brand.

Really good point re: subcategories. I've seen people go "Well why don't we call Equestria Girls G4.5" and such and it's like, well, same reason Dream Beauties aren't G1.5. It's not a new gen unless it's the universal new style for the line. which kinda goes back to my earlier point of gens not really being able to be defined until they're over (or at least in full swing, like... there was debate on what to call G3.5 but I don't think there was debate on whether or not it was the new style for the line, if you get me). not just cause of the "is it a subline or is it actually a revamp" but because you need to see what the new thing means overall, if that makes sense? I know what I mean but I'm not sure how to put it into words. Like.... even if Hasbro hadn't officially dubbed Pony Life as G4.5, I'd support it being called that, because it clearly just existed as a stopgap between G4 and G5. It's the halfway point, we can see that now that it's done (well it was kinda obvious from the start, but, you know :p). Whereas in retrospect, the G4 movie reboot line was just them freshening up the current line, not actively moving towards a new gen? I guess sorta like how they started using the Bride pose a lot near the end of G1, except they fully switched over to new moulds instead of just flirting with it. We can see that _now_ buti

I guess it really shows the changes in how MLP has been marketed, tbh. Within G1, you had different ponies being sold simultaneously in different regions. Although G2 continued beyond the US line, and G3 had various store exclusives, no other MLP line has done this in quite the same way. In general, G4 was universal - with a few exceptions. I think G5 has been as well. Names are also no longer translated, even if packages are.

I think this applies to most things, really. Everything's a lot more "universal" and consistent now, more unified. Not just toys, but the media surrounding them too, it used to be you'd have other countries doing their own stuff and going off the rails or whatever... thinking like... I dunno, the Italian pony comics, or that Dutch G2 CD. (can think of better examples for non-pony stuff but I'm trying not to go too off-topic here :p) There was a lot more of countries just making their own stuff up and doing whatever. Now everything's pretty much the same the world over and just translated? Which I guess is because it's so much easier for everyone to communicate cross-country now. It's cool but it does make me kind of sad, in a way, to lose the individuality (? what word do I want here) we used to have there.

IIRC Hasbro said the names are the same now because it's easier/cheaper (?) to just trademark one name rather than have to go through the trademarking process for each country. I know that's why they tend towards nonsense names like Scootaloo, Tink-a-Tink-a-Too, etc instead of like how G1/G2 had names like Firefly, Ivy, Billie, etc, because it's easier to trademark things that aren't common words/names/etc.

I call them all symbols. I can't stand the term cutie mark, it sounds really stupid to my ears and that was before they started using it in shows.

Same here - heck I didn't like "cutie mark" before Hasbro coined it. (Animaniacs used it first! )
I admit I can't help but twitch when I see people use it for G1/2. Okay... I have that reaction any time I see the term. But with G3-5 I'll tell myself "Alright self, chill, it's the official term" you know? not that I'd "correct" anyone or whatever, people can use whatever name they prefer and all.. it just bugs me

[Ponybookworm]

I don't like Cutie Mark either. It feels like being talked down to every time I hear it!!!

[Carrehz]

I don't like Cutie Mark either. It feels like being talked down to every time I hear it!!!

Ahhh that's it!! Somehow it just feels patronizing, I dunno why.

[LadyMoondancer]

Yeah, I don't like "cutie mark" either.  But it is probably trademarkable, ha ha.  I remember during G3 a lot of collectors would call just the hoof-heart (on the magnet foot) a cutie mark.

I agree that G3 brought My Little Pony to the forefront again. I counted how many individual ponies were released one year and it was a crazy amount. Like, 90 different characters.  And then the HUUUUGE playsets.  I wonder if G3 was more of a monetary success than G4 in terms of toy sales. (But MLP FIM did better with merchandise sales for sure . . . Funko Pops etc.)

About names, I like how they gave the G5 ponies last names because now they can use whatever short name they want (like Sunny) and add the last name to make it unique enough to trademark.  Much better than calling a pony Hitcharoo or Pipp-a-Dipp-a-Dee or whatever.

I watched a fan video explaining the different Littlest Pet Shop generations and it was very interesting, but I must confess . . . all the generations look exactly the same to me. (Except the Kenner ones.)  This must be how non-MLP collectors feel when I show them my ponies.

[Carrehz]

the LPS gens all seem so arbitrary to me too! except for the.. original style? G1? sdfghj I'm sure Kenner used to be G1, this is driving me crazy haha. I can see why they'd be considered a separate thing though since they really are a different toy apart from the name.
But yeah I was saying, I see the difference between, the original Hasbro ones and the first reboot that didn't have the bobbleheads. And then the reboot after that that brought back the bobbleheads. After that it kinda loses me

I remember the whole "is 'cutie mark' the hoof heart or the hip symbol?" thing too!! And then I think eventually there was a G3 backcard or something that made it explicitly clear it was the hip symbol?

Pipp-a-Dipp-a-Dee

[Leave a Whisper]

Much better than calling a pony Hitcharoo or Pipp-a-Dipp-a-Dee or whatever.

 

[Taffeta]

If those two names come up now in G5 we'll know Hasbro are watching

The irony of G2 was that it didn't sell well in the US, and of course we know that there was backlash. But around 2000, the first set to not be sold in the US included Silver Swirl the unicorn. I remember one US collector complaining that they started bringing out the good stuff after the US line ended...

Not to go off topic on the regional thing -aside to say that G1's regional diversity is one of it's biggest plus points for me - but in terms of whether G3 saved MLP globally...it probably did, because the North American market (Canada included of course) is massive and that's going to sway people's decision making. Especially with a US company at the helm. But in the case of G1 and G2, MLP survived longer in Europe than it did in north America. I always think that it's interesting how the companies here wanted to give the line more time...and succeeded in doing so, even if it was just for a couple of years. I often wonder if that latter G2 success in Europe helped persuade Hasbro in the US to try again.

I also remember those discussions about 'what the heck is a cutie mark!' in G3 xD.

I don't like the term either - I always found it patronising, like the need to cutesify things targeted at girls. It seemed like that to me. There's a big linguistic difference between 'cute' and 'cutie' in my opinion. But I think I also find it jarring because 'cutie' isn't a word that is well used in the UK just in general.

I hate that it is used on the BF pony boxes. But then in the 80s and 90s, Hasbro would reprint boxes to reflect correct regional spellings and terminology (Mum instead of Mom, colour instead of color just to name two examples) and now they don't bother, to save costs...which I also don't really like.

What's interesting to me with cutie mark as a term is that I found it nauseating but mostly irrelevant in G3. I disliked it but I didn't feel triggered by it when people used it. It just goes to show how obnoxious the cutie mark crusading was in G4, because now when I see it used for G1, it irks me a lot more.

[BlackCurtains]

I think the cutie mark being used for G1/all ponies is a lot like personal pronouns. Like, if you grew up with G4 and all you know is cutie mark, then calling them that on G1 is just a mistake, you don't know any better. But once people start to point out that they are called symbols, if you deliberately keep calling them cutie marks, than you are being annoying and disrespectful. Of course it's worse with pronouns, but I think it's the same kind of attitude. "This is what I know, so that is what it is and I refuse to accommodate by doing a simple thing."

[LadyMoondancer]

I've seen new users dogpiled on the board for saying "cutie mark" in reference to G1 and boy . . . that was a bad look.  We don't have to be a hivemind. I call them symbols, but I don't care if other people call them cutie marks, tramp stamps, or whatever, lol.  I've never had anyone jump down my throat for calling the G3 tramp stamps "symbols", which is technically the wrong term, so I don't know why I should wring my hands over someone calling a G1's tramp stamp a cutie mark.

[brightberry]

I wasn't online in the 80s obviously.    But I remember never knowing what to call it.   I went with "markings" or sometimes "symbols".   Whatever people choose to use, I don't mind.  Well, maybe not "tramp stamp." lol

[Taffeta]

I feel like symbol is generic and neutral simply because it's not official to any generation. I won't pile on someone for using cutie mark for G1, I just find it triggering. But mostly I accept that it's when people have come in from G4 to G1 and that's what they know. If it comes up in a discussion, though, I think it's ok to point out that it's a later term. But as I said before, the behaviour of bronies generally in trying to force their way on older gen fans is the reason it triggers me. I wouldn't even notice if it hadn't been for all the other stuff.

Symbol is not the same as cutie mark, though. It's not official, it doesn't associate to one or two specific generations, and it's entirely generic and used for collector convenience. It's very much a toy collectoresque term, but that's all.

Hasbro used various terms in the eighties and nineties. Design seems quite common. Rump design or rump marking is also an official Hasbro designation, at least in the UK:
(below courtesy of Chrissytree, see the text on the pony gimmick instructions)

Spoiler

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So calling a G1 symbol a cutie mark and calling a G4 marking a rump design is equivalent. Calling either a symbol is generic, and there was never any real issue about doing so beyond G1 until G4.

Symbol can apply to all ponies of any generation, at least when talking about the toys. Cutie mark and rump design cannot.

[FernMariposa919]

Hey, that's really cool and I love the little twist at the end. I honestly never gave much thought about when ponies were called G1, G2, G3, etc. I know it wasn't always the case and had to come from somewhere, but now I'm glad I know!

[Carrehz]

Yeah, seeing "cutie mark" applied to G1/G2 annoys me, but I wouldn't "correct" someone. It's like how it bugs me that "alicorn" became the official term for winged pegasi, to me it's wrong (alicorns are unicorn horns!!!), but I'm not going to go about policing what other people say or whatever. Explaining the difference in terms though is fair enough IMO, especially since the two ARE different in-universe/lore-wise/however you want to put it... since G4 started the whole "cutie marks have to be earned/represent their ~*special talent*~" bit.. which just wasn't a thing at all in earlier gens. so even past my own personal preference, it makes sense to me to differentiate between "symbols" and "cutie marks", you know?

I'm like... 98% sure "rump symbol" was used a few times in G2 too. And I want to say the Tales model sheets called them "emblems"?