小有名气 (xiǎo yǒu míng qì) — to have some reputation; to be fairly well-known

Definition

A four-character set phrase meaning 'somewhat well-known' — 小 softens the fame to a modest, local or niche level, short of being truly famous.

verb

to have some reputationto be fairly well-known

Examples

小有名气。
Tā zài zhè ge háng yè yǐ jīng xiǎo yǒu míng qì le.
He already has some reputation in this industry.
小有名气，。
Nà jiā cān tīng zài dāng dì xiǎo yǒu míng qì, wèi dào bú cuò.
That restaurant is fairly well-known locally, and the food is good.
，小有名气。
Zhè wèi huà jiā suī rán nián qīng, dàn yǐ jīng xiǎo yǒu míng qì le.
Though young, this painter has already earned some fame.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

八八bāto divide; to separate
丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

肉肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

又

又yòu有yǒu

Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

夕口名