one-trick pony
someone or something that is good in only one area
TRANSLATION
one-trick pony = eindimensional / etwas das nur für einen bestimmten Zweck zu gebrauchen ist oder jmd. der nur eine bestimmte Sache kann --- GOOGLE INDEX one-trick pony: approximately 800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Aside from limited sales of Nissan’s Leaf, the electric vehicle market is basically a ONE-TRICK PONY — with TESLA leading the show.
(www.investorplace.com)
---
Over the last year, the Chrome operating system also went from a ONE-TRICK PONY to something that's more like a "real" operating system.
(www.techcrunch.com)
(www.investorplace.com)
---
Over the last year, the Chrome operating system also went from a ONE-TRICK PONY to something that's more like a "real" operating system.
(www.techcrunch.com)
Did you
know?
one-trick pony
idiom
- someone or something that is only good for one particular purpose, or at doing one particular thing
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
The expression one-trick pony originates from the circus world and as it suggests it refers to a circus pony that comes out, performs one trick and then leaves. The idea that circus ponies perform only one trick is not that far from the truth.
One of the more common circus acts is having trained dogs leap onto and off trained ponies while they run in a circle. The ponies are not required to do much else but let the dogs use them as transport. This led to another idiom, "dog and pony show," which refers to a display, demonstration or exhibition of something, such as when a person is trying to sell something.
Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel fame wrote a same-named song that relies on the figurative sense of a one-trick pony:
He’s a one-trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It’s the principle source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through
Etymology: pony is a 17th century word from the Scottish "powny" by way of the obsolete French "poulenet" (little foal), which is a diminutive of the Old French "poulain" (foal), and further from the Late Latin "pullanus" (the young from an animal).
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I've seen plenty of start-up companies that were just one-trick ponies at the end of the day."
---
Thanks to Corrina for suggesting today's word!
idiom
- someone or something that is only good for one particular purpose, or at doing one particular thing
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
The expression one-trick pony originates from the circus world and as it suggests it refers to a circus pony that comes out, performs one trick and then leaves. The idea that circus ponies perform only one trick is not that far from the truth.
One of the more common circus acts is having trained dogs leap onto and off trained ponies while they run in a circle. The ponies are not required to do much else but let the dogs use them as transport. This led to another idiom, "dog and pony show," which refers to a display, demonstration or exhibition of something, such as when a person is trying to sell something.
Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel fame wrote a same-named song that relies on the figurative sense of a one-trick pony:
He’s a one-trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It’s the principle source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through
Etymology: pony is a 17th century word from the Scottish "powny" by way of the obsolete French "poulenet" (little foal), which is a diminutive of the Old French "poulain" (foal), and further from the Late Latin "pullanus" (the young from an animal).
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I've seen plenty of start-up companies that were just one-trick ponies at the end of the day."
---
Thanks to Corrina for suggesting today's word!
