大哥大 (dà gē dà) — (historical) early mobile phone, especially the large brick-style telephone; (slang) a powerful person, big shot, godfather (often in criminal or business circles)

Definition

Examples

• 以前有钱人用大哥大，现在大家都用智能手机了。
  Yǐ qián yǒu qián rén yòng dà gē dà, xiàn zài dà jiā dōu yòng zhì néng shǒu jī le.
  In the past, rich people used brick phones; now everyone uses smartphones.
• 他在黑社会里是个大哥大，没人敢惹他。
  Tā zài hēi shè huì lǐ shì gè dà gē dà, méi rén gǎn rě tā.
  He is a godfather in the underworld; nobody dares to mess with him.
• 他想当这里的大哥大，所以拼命拉帮结派。
  Tā xiǎng dāng zhè lǐ de dà gē dà, suǒ yǐ pīn mìng lā bāng jié pài.
  He wants to become the big boss here, so he is desperately forming cliques.

Origin