Category: Idioms

A person or thing with only one special feature, talent, or area of expertise. The first known use of one-trick pony was in 1980.

For example: Her boldness in style, prowess and mood highlighted her viability as more than a one-trick pony.— Jason Scott, Billboard, “Carrie Underwood’s ‘Carnival Ride’ Turns 10: How the ‘Idol’ Winner Proved She’s a Country Mainstay,” 23 Oct. 2017

Paul Simon – One Trick Pony

One-Trick Pony, Paul Simon’s fifth solo studio album, was released in 1980. It was Simon’s first album for Warner Bros. Records, and his first new studio album since 1975’s Still Crazy After All These Years. His back catalog from Columbia Records would also move to Warner Bros. as a result of his signing with the label.

Callan Wink: More Than A One-Trick Pony

About the Book:

In the tradition of Richard Ford, Annie Proulx, and Kent Haruf comes a dazzling debut story collection by a young writer from the American West who has been published in The New Yorker, Granta, and The Best American Short Stories.

A construction worker on the run from the shady local businessman whose dog he has stolen; a Custer’s Last Stand reenactor engaged in a long-running affair with the Native American woman who slays him on the battlefield every year; a middle-aged high school janitor caught in a scary dispute over land and cattle with her former stepson: Callan Wink’s characters are often confronted with predicaments few of us can imagine. But thanks to the humor and remarkable empathy of this supremely gifted writer, the nine stories gathered in Dog Run Moon are universally transporting and resonant.

Set mostly in Montana and Wyoming, near the borders of Yellowstone National Park, this revelatory collection combines unforgettable insight into the fierce beauty of the West with a powerful understanding of human beings. Tender, frequently hilarious, and always electrifying, Dog Run Moon announces the arrival of a bold new talent writing deep in the American grain.