Symbol or Cutiemark?

[AnnaPommes]

i use both, depending to who i am talking too If the person knows a bit about ponies, i call it cutiemark. if not symbol.
oh, and more often symbol because it is shorter. (and the german word for symbol sounds the same, so i do not have to switch to an english word)

[Dainty]

I use both terms interchangeably hehehe usually symbols though for g1-g3 and cutiemark for g4

[Miniature Sheep]

I used to call them all kind of things, including marks, stamps, designs and tattoos among... other things (it's an alliterative term and the second word is 'antlers'!) but since I learned that the proper term is symbol, I've started to use that. The other terms do still get some airtime, though.

[Ponykit]

Both, but I use cutie mark more often.

[Sarah-Bee]

Always has been and always will be a symbol.

This.

[sweetapple]

Symbol, much more dignified! (Cutie mark makes me think of the Animaniacs movie too :p)

[mlp_loving]

Sometimes both, but usually cutiemark.

[Sunset]

I prefer symbol.  I was an adult by the time Hasbro started using the term cutie mark and I've always found it too " cutsie" for my taste.

[cricket]

Definitely symbol!  I do not like the term cutie mark at all.

[Mirnyj]

*whispers with crazed look in eyes*  Symbol foreeeever.

QFT!

*joins the symbol obsessed*
I'm old school, I can't turn myself.

[Strawberry Swirl]

I usually impulsively call everything a "symbol" but I actually have a headcanon that they're 2 different things.

Symbols are(or were, in the case of G4) something a pony is born having; they don't mean a thing, they're really just there to look pretty.
It was popular to name your foal something related to their symbol way back when. Ponies just liked to do so.

Cutie marks are things that are earned, that can only be obtained through discovering your special talent.
They emerged when foals began to be born without symbols. At first, everypony thought it was some sort of genetic mutation...
until those same foals suddenly sprouted their cutie mark later in life! This was happening at the very very very end of G3(for us anyway, imagine it being something
that first popped up during the Core 7's reign and then everyone was used to it during the G4 series premiere) so it's fairly recent.
Now the current generation of ponies hardly know what symbols are, but their grandparents would know.

That's just my onion though lol.

[palaisdejouets]

It's hard for me to think of G1 symbols as cutie marks. For some reason the term fits way better with the G4 ponies.

Anyway, I don't really care either way, though I do default to symbol.

i use both, depending to who i am talking too If the person knows a bit about ponies, i call it cutiemark. if not symbol.
oh, and more often symbol because it is shorter. (and the german word for symbol sounds the same, so i do not have to switch to an english word)

This is a really good point -- in a lot of European languages, the word for symbol is very similar if not the same, so that's another point in favour of it!

P.S. emuel, is the German word for cutie mark "Schönheitsfleck"?

[aluke]

when referring to G1/2, symbol. When referring to G3/.5/4, cutiemark.

I like the term cutiemark just fine because it's a pun and I love puns, but symbol is easier to say so I prefer to default to that. Honestly though, cutiemark is a much cuter word for kids to call the designs than symbol.

[CloudyGlow]

I had no idea there was even a debate.  Having started pony during g3 it has always been a cutie mark to me.  As pointed out though it seems that the nature of a symbol/cutie mark has changed during the years. So it makes sense to call them different things for different gens. 

[mlp4me]

Symbol.