ponny

ponny v, n, exclam; hence vbl n ponnying Also pawnee (gutter), pawny(-gutter), ponny-gutter(s), porny, punny chiefly NYC, Long Is. obs Cf belly-gut n 1, sliding pond n

To coast on a sled, esp by running and throwing oneself face down on it; the practice of or an instance of sledding, esp in this way; also used as a warning cry.

1844 Columbian Lady’s & Gentleman’s Mag. 2.113/2 NYC,“Pawny-guttah!” I stepped aside instinctively, and, with the speed of an arrow there came gliding along, lying prone upon a sled, one of the boyish troop. 1852 Lit. World 3 Jan 5/2 NYC, The Municipal ordinances to be found under the head of ashes, have vetoed the pursuit of ‘penny [sic] gutter;’ and sled-riding in the metropolis is a very up hill affair. 1891 Jrl. Amer. Folkl. 4.159 Brooklyn NY, I heard loud shouts from the coasters of “Punny! punny there! punny!” This was their cry of warning to passers-by, who might be in the way of their dangerous sleds. The word is also used as a verb in such sentences as the following: “Let ’s go out and punny down hill.” In other parts of Long Island the word is changed to “ponny,” or “porny.” 1893 Brooklyn Daily Eagle (NY) 7 June 5/3, Foutz started the sport by going down on all fours at first base and sliding off in the direction of right field as though he were “ponny guttering,” to use a small boy’s term. 1896 Brooklyn Daily Times (NY) 7 Oct 6/5 eLong Is. NY, We left the country schoolhouse with our books beneath our arm, / And “ponnied” for an hour near the dam. 1897 Brooklyn Citizen (NY) 10 Jan 18/6, The alarming practice known as “ponnygutters,” “belly wops,” or “ponnying” partakes of the the character of coasting and is purely an urban pastime. . . There is not a little science in this sort of sport, and the boy who can “ponny” the farthest is a momentary hero. The practice obtains most on streets that are perfectly level or only slightly inclined. . . The boy takes a firm hold of the sled, runs some distance, and at the proper moment throws himself and sled forward towards the ground. 1903 DN 2.352 seNY, Ponny. . . A sleigh-ride. ‘Come on out and have a ponny.’ Long Island. Ponny. . . To sleigh-ride. ‘Come on out and ponny.’ Long Island. 1903 Outing 41.464, New York City lads who coasted in the days when coasting was common below the City Hall . . shouted, “Pawnee!” “Pawnee gutter” was another New York term, and both were also used in New Jersey. . . “[P]awnee,” it is said, evolved from “upon ye.” 1907 Pittsburgh Post (PA) 11 Mar 3/1, Fond fathers and mothers entered into their periodical siege of heart failure, as the children “ponnied” down steep grades crossed by street car or railroad tracks. 1943 Brooklyn Eagle (NY) 29 Aug 30/1 (as of c1890), I, too, had ‘ponnied’ down that same hill.