More for the "bro-" files: "brony"

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Dec 19, 2011, at 10:30 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>
> On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 12:02 AM, Neal Whitman wrote:
>>
>> My son told me about "bronies", i.e. grown male fans of My Little Pony. More
>> information at:
>> http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/06/bronies-my-little-ponys/
>> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bronies
>> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203707504577012141105109140.html
>
> Noted by Larry back in September:
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1109C&L=ADS-L&P=R8190
>
> ...who suggested it was a "a viable 'least likely to succeed'
> candidate" for ADS WOTY. I included it on my WOTY nominee list for its
> sheer oddity:
>
> http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/3066/
> http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/12/18/what-talked-about/a3UP8sPAFziCmRnLIOjtcJ/story.html
>
> See also Erin McKean on brofixing:
>
> http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/12/02/the-secret-language-bros/kd1q6tKQxO15hxMYWQSirO/story.html
>
>> I find the portmanteau "brony" interesting because in words like "bromance"
>> (and in most other portmanteau and compound nouns) the second element is the
>> head: A bromance is a kind of romance; a motel is a kind of hotel. In
>> contrast, a brony is not a kind of pony, but a kind of bro.

and briefly noted here:

http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/dubious-bromanteau/

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