<p>Your theory's right.
The word &quot;炮&quot; in this context is a metaphor for the penis.
The term '娘炮' can therefore be understood intuitively as a male with a '炮（pennis）' but a female appearance.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T10:08:43.947Z
2022-08-31T10:08:43.947Z
MultipleMapple
<p>As far as I know, in some northern chinese dialects, &quot;炮&quot; is a derogatory name for a person. And it is usually used in specific words.</p>
<p>e.g., the word &quot;屯 (village) 炮&quot; refers to a hillbilly, and the word &quot;山炮&quot; refers to a reckless person.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T11:43:54.037Z
And 大炮, though literally meaning a "cannon", also means a "habitual liar"
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T11:30:18.357Z
2022-08-31T11:30:18.357Z
YU Hui
<p>My two cents.</p>
<p>The meaning 娘炮 could be related to the famous saying - &quot;如法炮制&quot;, which means following/copying other people's methods/ways of doing something.</p>
<p>One of the old/original usage/meanings of the word &quot;炮&quot; was &quot;utilizing the heat from fire to bake/prepare medicine&quot;, for each different medicine, there existed an established way/method to be successful, thus, the latter drug makers, who wanted to put a foot in the market quickly and cheaply, tended to &quot;如法炮制&quot; to save troubles.</p>
<p>From the above, 炮 literally implies the act of copy or imitation, so someone at some time used the phrase 娘(mother/female)炮(copying/imitates) to describe a man who acts like a woman - a replicate of a female (or his mother), a &quot;sissy&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T19:35:42.340Z
2022-08-31T19:35:42.340Z
r13
<p>I know what the word as a whole means but just wondering if anyone know something about perhaps the etymology and/or meaning or the like of the 炮 part in the word 娘炮, i.e. why use the character 炮 here and/or what does it refers to in this case.</p>
<p>I can't find much about the word meaning apart from the literal dictionary definitions of &quot;sissy/effeminate&quot;, but I have my own theory: it seems to be some kind of innuendo to the penis, since 炮's common definition is &quot;something that shoot projectile&quot; so perhaps 娘炮 could be defined as something like a &quot; 'defective/weak' penis &quot;?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-22T03:04:02.830Z
any explanations from more "official" sources? even something like the Chinese equivalent of Urban Dictionary is better than nothing
Leo
<meaning><etymology>
What is the meaning for the 炮 in 娘炮?
# What is the meaning for the 炮 in 娘炮?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-08-31)

I know what the word as a whole means but just wondering if anyone know something about perhaps the etymology and/or meaning or the like of the 炮 part in the word 娘炮, i.e. why use the character 炮 here and/or what does it refers to in this case.

I can't find much about the word meaning apart from the literal dictionary definitions of "sissy/effeminate", but I have my own theory: it seems to be some kind of innuendo to the penis, since 炮's common definition is "something that shoot projectile" so perhaps 娘炮 could be defined as something like a " 'defective/weak' penis "?

**Tags:** meaning, etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: any explanations from more "official" sources? even something like the Chinese equivalent of Urban Dictionary is better than nothing  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-08-31. Score: 2

Your theory's right.
The word "炮" in this context is a metaphor for the penis.
The term '娘炮' can therefore be understood intuitively as a male with a '炮（pennis）' but a female appearance.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2022-08-31. Score: 0

As far as I know, in some northern chinese dialects, "炮" is a derogatory name for a person. And it is usually used in specific words.

e.g., the word "屯 (village) 炮" refers to a hillbilly, and the word "山炮" refers to a reckless person.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: And 大炮, though literally meaning a "cannon", also means a "habitual liar"  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-08-31. Score: 0

My two cents.

The meaning 娘炮 could be related to the famous saying - "如法炮制", which means following/copying other people's methods/ways of doing something.

One of the old/original usage/meanings of the word "炮" was "utilizing the heat from fire to bake/prepare medicine", for each different medicine, there existed an established way/method to be successful, thus, the latter drug makers, who wanted to put a foot in the market quickly and cheaply, tended to "如法炮制" to save troubles.

From the above, 炮 literally implies the act of copy or imitation, so someone at some time used the phrase 娘(mother/female)炮(copying/imitates) to describe a man who acts like a woman - a replicate of a female (or his mother), a "sissy".


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