# Did Paul Simon coin "one-trick pony"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918 "2009-12-29T16:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/1 "2009-12-29T16:19:41Z")
Or was this term in use before [he used it in a song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Trick_Pony_(album))? I had never heard it before his song, but it seems to have caught on as a minor cliché. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/2 "2009-12-29T16:25:57Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Or was this term in use before [he used it in a song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Trick_Pony_(album))? I had never heard it before his song, but it seems to have caught on as a minor cliché. I can’t cite anything, but I know I heard the term when I was a child, loong before Paul Simon was born. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/3 "2009-12-29T16:51:55Z")
The phrase “one trick pony” has been in use for decades, long long long before you were a twinkle in your father’s eye. It means a person who can do one thing well, like an actor can do a great ‘rage’ scene, but is a flop at romance or comedy. No, I don’t have a cite. No, Paul Simon did not invent it. Why would you think he did? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/4 "2009-12-29T17:03:11Z")
From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/one-trick+pony?r=66) Main Entry: one-trick pony Part of Speech: n Definition: any person or group with only one discernable trait, talent, or area of expertise Example: That actor proved to be a one-trick pony. Etymology: from act in Cuffling Cousins Circus of mid-1800s * * * I’m pretty sure I’d heard it before Simon used it. I figured it referred to a rodeo bucking bronco that had a single, often effective, move for dislodging a rider. But there’s no evidence for that interpretation that I know. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/5 "2009-12-29T17:05:41Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > No, Paul Simon did not invent it. Why would you think he did? > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I had never heard it before his song, but it seems to have caught on as a minor cliché. Bridging people together is my job. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/6 "2009-12-29T17:30:17Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Bridging people together is my job. Thank you 🙂 Reading the OP gives people less opporunity to be snarky… I was about 23 when the album came out. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/7 "2009-12-29T17:42:03Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I had never heard it before his song, but it seems to have caught on as a minor cliché. \ I was about 23 when the album came out. Likewise and likewise. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-paul-simon-coin-one-trick-pony/522918/8 "2009-12-30T00:00:36Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/one-trick+pony?r=66) > Main Entry: one-trick pony > Part of Speech: n > Definition: any person or group with only one discernable trait, talent, or area of expertise > Example: That actor proved to be a one-trick pony. > Etymology: from act in Cuffling Cousins Circus of mid-1800s This is correct for the pony who only knew one trick. In a literal sense. As to the figurative sense–the OED only shows it from 1950.