Meaning:
“地图” means “map,” and “炮” refers to “mortar,” a heavy gun that fires bombs and shells high into the air. Originating from Banpresto’s game “Super Robot Wars,” this term originally refers to a map-based weapon and later is used to refer to all sorts of weapons of mass destruction or powerful magic in games. Chinese netizens now use the term metaphorically on those who discriminate against a group of people from the same place, of a certain age or sharing the same hobbies.
Example:
A: 东北的骗子公司特别多。
Dōngběi de piànzi gōngsī tèbié duō。
There are a lot of fraudsters among companies based in Northeast China.
B: 也不能一概而论吧。
Yě bùnéng yīgài érlùn ba。
That’s too general of a conclusion.
A: 辉山乳业、欣泰电气都是典型例子。你可以说我是地图炮，反正我不会买东北公司的股票。
Huīshān rǔyè、xīntài diànqì dōu shì diǎnxíng lìzi。Nǐ kěyǐ shuō wǒ shì dìtúpào, fǎnzhèng wǒ bùhuì mǎi dōngběi gōngsī de gǔpiào。
Huishan Dairy and Dandong Xintai Electric are typical examples. You can call me discriminative, but I will not buy stocks of any company based in that area.
(First Editor: Debra Li)