brony

English edit

a 2011 brony meetup

Etymology edit

PIE word
*bʰréh₂tēr

Blend of bro +‎ pony, the earliest documented use dates to the 25th of October 2010 on the 4chan image boards.^[1]

Pronunciation edit

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹoʊni/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹəʊni/
Rhymes: -əʊni

Noun edit

brony (plural bronies)

(fandom slang) A (usually major, often male) fan of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, typically an adult male.
- 2011 September 7, Jaime Weinman, “Men who love ‘My Little Pony’”, in Maclean's‎^[1], →ISSN:
  But Sethisto thinks that for him and his fellow bronies, the show has "evolved way past being just another 22-minute commercial. They gave the team enough freedom to really make it awesome."
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:brony.

Usage notes edit

Due to various controversies, such as prominent members of the brony fandom being members of alt-right or fascist groups, or hostility towards feminists and minority fans, some progressive-aligned or leftist fans of MLP:FiM use the terms "pony fan", "MLP fan", "My Little Pony fan" instead of "brony".