a one-trick pony

a one-trick pony

A person, group, or thing that is known for or limited to only one unique or noteworthy skill, talent, ability, quality, area of success, etc. The app developers took the world by storm with an incredibly addictive game for smartphones, but they've really been seen as just a one-trick pony ever since that breakthrough success. As most readers suspected, the famed fantasy writer turned out to be a bit of a one-trick pony, genre-wise, with his debut novel in literary fiction being universally panned by critics.
See also: pony
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

one-trick pony (or horse)

someone or something specializing in only one area, having only one talent, or of limited ability. chiefly US
2005 DVD Verdict Joan Collins…may be a one-trick pony (she's been playing nothing but variations on her Alexis Carrington for the past twenty years), but what a trick it is.
See also: pony
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • one-trick pony
  • pony
  • there is no there there
  • X factor
  • be (one's) man/woman
  • be somebody's man/woman
  • a sight to behold
  • cut (one) down in (one's) prime
  • cut someone off in their prime
  • prime
References in periodicals archive
"We've shown we are not a one-trick pony in our own conditions any more and that should fill us with a huge amount of confidence going into future tours.
"It's about being adaptable and we've shown we can do that here, shown we are not a one-trick pony in our own conditions any more and that should fill us with confidence."
'If somebody (Pakistan) else would like to be a one-trick pony, it is for them to regurgitate an act which we have handled many times in the past and are confident we will do so again.'
"If somebody else would like to be a one-trick pony, it is for them to regurgitate and act.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he would like to hear President Rodrigo Duterte spell out his vision for the country in his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, saying this would prove 'that he's more than a one-trick pony whose only expertise is a barbaric anti-illegal drug purge.'
"When you ask those questions I don't think the answers will be very forthcoming because they are a one-trick pony.
But the duo is hardly a one-trick pony, and when DJ Musik Read delivers a forceful and powerful and arresting rap break on "Harmony,'' it's clear that this pair is delivering music that's not just meant to be moved to: They're delivering music that moves you on both a physical and emotional level.
Unlike Mr Sanders who seems to be very much of a one-trick pony.
"He's called me a one-trick pony, but I'll be a great one-trick pony.
Pro stylist Luis Bujia shows us there's no such thing as a one-trick pony.
This is the man who, after leading his team to inglorious defeat in the London bus tour task, gave the most toe-curling and laughable performance yet in the boardroom ("I'm not a one-trick pony or a 10-trick pony - I've got a field full of ponies!") Sugar warned him that one day he would look back at this and cringe ...
29 (ANI): England fast bowler James Anderson has said that he is not a one-trick pony and is poised to prove his versatility with the ball against Australia in the Ashes next month.
Lysozyme is, by comparison, a one-trick pony: It chews up bacterial cell walls.
A few weeks before the election, with Moore trailing in the polls by 50 percent, NBC political reporter Mark Murray wrote a column speculating that many Alabamians had begun to see Moore as a one-trick pony.