mall ninja

noun

Etymology

Originated in several 2000-2001 discussions on Internet forums devoted to firearms, in which a poster bragged about his firearm expertise while claiming to be a "Sergeant of a three-man Rapid Tactical Force" at an American mall, trained in "ninjitsu". He was soon nicknamed "the mall ninja".

Definitions

1
A person who brags about being a weaponry expert and connoisseur, but exposes their…
A person who brags about being a weaponry expert and connoisseur, but exposes their ignorance by making improbable claims about their experience or skill.
- I own a Strider [knife]. Nope, I'm not a mall ninja or secret squirrel but it gives me pleasure to own them.
- I too abandoned those groups. Granted, I was one who had my mind made up for the most part, but not entirely. I just grew frustrated with the kindergarten sophistry, mall ninja bravado, and so on.
- No big deal, unless you're anal about being mil-spec "correct" to impress your mall ninja buddies.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for mall ninja. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA