mall ninja

Meaning

Noun

• A person who claims to be an expert on weaponry, often to the point of disdaining popular weapons and preferring expensive and exotic ones along with equally expensive accessories, and likes to brag about their supposed expertise, but often exposes their ignorance in discussions, sometimes making improbable claims about their experience or weapon use.

Origin

• Originating from several 2000-2001 discussions at 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."