Meaning:

    “马” is a “horse,” and “甲” is “armor.” Originally “马甲” was literally “armor on a horse,” and later it came to mean a “vest” worn by human beings. Chinese netizens, however, have given the term a new meaning, which is a pseudonym ID used for various purposes. The use was borrowed from a famous line in a comic mini-drama acted by Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan in year 2000. The line reads: “Don’t you think you can fool my eyes just by wearing a vest,” which relates to a joke that a fool thinks a tortoise were a snake wearing a vest.

    Example:

    A: 昨天论坛上的混战你没参加啊？

    Zuótiān lùntán shàng de hùnzhàn nǐ méi cānjiā a？

    Did you take part in the chaotic debate on the BBS yesterday?

    B: 你指关于《一步之遥》好不好看的论战吗？

    Nǐ zhǐ guānyú yībùzhīyáo hǎobuhǎo kàn de lùnzhàn ma?

    Did you mean the debate on whether “Gone With the Bullets” was good?

    A: 是啊。

    Shì a。

    Yeah.

    B: 其实我参加了，不过穿了马甲。

    Qíshì wǒ cānjiā le, búguò chuān le mǎjiǎ。

    I was in the debate, but I used a pseudonym ID.