I Think It's Called Ponytown... Story Notes | Chapter 2 · 2:22pm Jan 23rd, 2020
CHAPTER 2: Thesaurus? I thought Dinosaurs were Extinct
A thesaurus may be useful in the translation efforts, but the title makes fun of the similarity of the word thesaurus to the common ending used in most dinosaur names.
Anyone who has worked in an office building knows about 'Power Managers' and the suits they like to wear.
No-one can indeed wield a chaise-longue (or 'fainting couch') like Rarity as seen in the show on many an occasion.
'bonkers' - one of the best British words ever invented.
'Starmix' - while used here to refer to Starswirl while denoting the effects of the problem at hand, this does of course refer to the popular bags of sweets manufactured by Haribo.
'Vanity Mare' a play on the fashion and entertainment magazine 'Vanity Fair'
'Scares' - The short version of Scarcity, with her current look, amuses me.
Red Bean Buns - these are very popular in Chinese cuisine. I knew a bakery in Sydney's Chinatown that also made a number of western style cakes, but with very little sugar. There was a practically savoury 'chocolate eclair'. I never recovered from this experience and thus the bakery made it into the story.
Real Chinese food is actually pretty healthy.
Nearly every Chinese shop I've been in abroad has some leaflet for cheap long-distance calls taped to the door.
The Buns are named after their stock in trade of course. Pinkie Pudding is a reference to Mango Pudding, also mentioned in this chapter because I adore it. I went to an eat all you want Yum Cha buffet once, and ate them completely out of mango pudding. If you get the opportunity to try it, please do. Don't forget the condensed milk.
Yum Cha is a corruption of England's 'Afternoon Tea' which was promoted across Hong Kong, a former protectorate of the UK. It involves the waitresses with the silver trollies and small plates, but instead of tea and cakes, offers a range of small Chinese Dim Sum dishes. Dim Sum (Dian Xin in Mandarin) means small plates of food, rather like the Spanish idea of Tapas.
Ostentatious Sparkle Castle is another bad translation, but rather fitting.
PART 1: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/886811/i-think-its-called-ponytown-story-notes-chapter-1
PART 3: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/886816/i-think-its-called-ponytown-story-notes-chapter-3
Nope, 点心 (Dim Sum) is Dian Xin in
ChineseMandarin.5207026
Hah. Good catch! Dunno how I managed to screw that one up, but it has been a long time since I've spoken Mandarin now. I've edited the notes!