STREET TALK

among the thousands of ephemeral terms coined by Chinese netizens， there’s one that has lasted over a decade—馬甲(m2ji2， literally“waistcoat”)， a term that refers to fake accounts created for the purpose of trolling forums. What’s so two-faced about waistcoats， you ask? It all goes back to a sketch from the 2000 Spring Festival Gala， in which a character jokes about a snake disguising itself as a tortoise by wearing a 馬甲: “小樣兒，你穿個馬甲，我就不認識你啦?”(Xi2oy3ngr， n@ chu`n g- m2ji2， w6 ji b% r-nshi n@ la?)，“You think if you wear a waistcoat I can’t tell who you are?”馬甲’s are generally used to write negative posts or launch personal attacks without sullying one’s good username. If forum users suspect a poster is fake， they may complain，“這個帖子真夠坑爹的！肯定是用馬甲發的!” (Zh-ge ti0zi zh8n g7u k8ngdi8 de! K0nd#ng sh# y7ng m2ji2 f` de!)， “This post is so tricky， it must be posted through an alternative account!” It’s then the admin’s job to close the account (known as “shooting the waistcoat，” 槍斃馬甲， qi`ngb# m2ji2)， so the owner of the 馬甲 will never be able to post again. - hu yIjun (胡逸君)