be on nodding terms (with someone or something)
phrase

- to know someone slightly, only as an acquaintance
- to have a relationship which is not close or fully developed
- to know or be superficially familiar with a subject or body of knowledge

Oxford Dictionary / The Free Dictionary / Your Dictionary

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ORIGINS

Nod is from the late 14c., “to quickly bow the head; to assent, beckon, or salute quickly by an inclination of the head” perhaps from Old High German hnoton “to shake”, from Proto-Germanic hnudan.

Meaning “droop the head forward with a short, involuntary motion,” as when drowsy, is evidenced by the 1560s.

A nodding acquaintance (by 1821) is one you know just well enough to recognize with a nod.

The Land of Nod “a state of sleep”, a pun on the biblical place name east of Eden (Genesis iv.16), is from 1731.

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NODDING TERMS

- to nod off = to fall asleep, usually briefly or when one does not intend to

- to give someone the nod = to give someone permission to do something

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There are varying theories as to why nodding is so frequently used to indicate acceptance.

One simple theory is that it is a form of bowing, indicating that one is prepared to accept what another person is saying or requesting. It has also been stated that babies, when hungry, search for milk by moving their heads vertically, but decline milk by turning their head from side to side.

There are several exceptions: in Greece, Cyprus, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, and Sicily a single nod of the head up (not down) indicates a “no”.

Specifically in Greece and in Cyprus, the single nod of the head up that indicates “no” is almost always combined with a simultaneous raise of the eyebrows and most commonly also with a slight (or complete) rolling up of the eyes.

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WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD

“Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” is a popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889.

The original title was “Dutch Lullaby”. The poem is a fantasy bed-time story about three children sailing and fishing among the stars from a boat which is a wooden shoe. The names suggest a sleepy child’s blinking eyes and nodding head.

The spelling of the names, and the “wooden shoe,” suggest Dutch language and names:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
  sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
  into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
  the old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
  that live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
  said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“I can't ask Jim to do me a favour,... I'm only ON NODDING TERMS with him.”

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THANKS to Maria for suggesting today’s OWAD

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith