English words are adapted for use in German all the time. It’s not uncommon to hear a sentence in which half the words are English, especially if the speaker is young and hip. To a much lesser extent, the Italians do this, too. Often the meaning of the word stays the same, or at least mostly the same, but sometimes the definition gets completely scrapped for a new, unrelated one. Smoking. Mobbing. Pony.*
Back when I worked in Milan, the receptionist called me at my desk one day with an important message: “C’è un pony per Lei.” There’s a pony for you. I imagined a barnyard animal standing at her desk waiting for me to come get it. I tried to explain to my Italian colleagues why their use of the word pony was so amusing, but they just thought I was a little nuts.
As you probably guessed from that little story, in Italian pony means “package”. (No, not that kind of package. Pervert.) As in, something that could be delivered by the Pony Express. If the Pony Express existed now, and in Italy. Which it does not. And even if it did, I doubt it would deliver ponies (although Pony Express certainly would be the obvious name choice for a service specializing in pony delivery). But perhaps I digress.
The Germans aren’t so silly. They know better than to call a package a pony. They know that a pony isn’t related to delivery services, but rather to hair. Thinking pony tail? Not so fast… In German, a pony is what we in English refer to as bangs (fringe, to the Brits). Any guesses on the origin of that one?
* In German, Smoking means tuxedo, and Mobbing means harassment (usually by a group in a work or school environment).
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In unrelated news, my new computer arrives tomorrow. Yay! Can’t wait to get back to my regular diet of internet access (and blogging).
In dutch, (and I mean Dutch dutch, not flemish) a “pony” is also bangs.
It’s der Pony (m. = hair) vs. das pony (n. = horse), short for “Ponyschnitt” = cut the way ponies have it hanging down the forehead
“Smoking” is a tuxedo en français as well – I think it’s rather evocative, like you’re obliged to have cigars and crystal decanter of port on hand while wearing one.
The embedded picture in your posting is the best answer for your last question. Look at that “haircut” 🙂
That is funny with the package reference. I always feel so deflated when I think something is hilarious and no one here gets it. Ha, ha! Bangs are fringe to my friends in Brazil as well.
“le brushing” is a blow-dry in french. Going to a hairdresser and being charged $40 for a “brushing” isn’t some weird fetish thing, it’s an actual legitimate service.
Thanks for the explanation, Corregio. When I think of what a pony’s hair looks like (and what a “Ponyschnitt” should look like), I imagine more of a mullet. But I suppose bangs work, too. 🙂
And “le brushing” is definitely my new favorite French word.
Mark points to ‘smoking’ being used in French too. In fact, the ‘ing’ ending is highly creative in French, for words that fill a real gap and with meanings realted but not identical to the English roots: ‘un parking’ is not parking but a car park, ‘un camping’ is not camping but a camp site, ‘un jogging’ may be jogging but is also a track suit.
hey Jul, sorry, but I gotta correct you. In Italian a pony is actually a small horse. Pony does not mean package… it’s an abbreviation of “pony-express”, the person who delivers the package 🙂
Fede – hmmm… perhaps some Italians use it differently than you do? I guarantee there was no small horse waiting for me at that reception desk. I would have remembered that.
David – you remind me of another amusing parking-related word: in Italy they used the word “box” to refer to a garage spot.
See also:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pony#Etymology_2
I think I’ve heard “pony” for bangs in English, although certainly not commonly. It appears to have spread – there are references to several non-English languages if you Google “pony bangs”. Which, to continue the “package” double-entendre, I don’t think I’d recommend doing on Google Image Search.
ok