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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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase dates to the early nineteenth century, when the nod — a brief downward tilt of the head — carried considerable social meaning in class-conscious British society.

To nod at someone in the street was a codified gesture: it said I know you exist without committing to conversation. It was cheaper than a bow, less demanding than a tip of the hat, and carried no obligation whatsoever.

The word nod itself is old English, probably from Low German nodden (to shake, rock, or sway), and entered written English by the fourteenth century, initially meaning an involuntary drooping of the head in drowsiness. By the sixteenth century it had acquired the sense of a deliberate signal of greeting or assent.

The compound phrase nodding acquaintance is first recorded in an 1824 letter by the British poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes. On nodding terms followed as a variant reinforcing the same idea — that the relationship goes no further than that minimal physical acknowledgement.

The phrase can apply equally to people and to subjects: one can be on nodding terms with French history, a piece of software, or the basics of contract law — meaning a superficial familiarity, enough to recognise the thing without really knowing it.

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

And note these extra expressions:

- 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

Helga & Paul Smith

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WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD

“Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” is a charming poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field in 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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SYNONYMS

a face I know, a familiar face, acquainted (in passing), barely/casually acquainted, distant/glancing familiarity, faintly acquainted, familiar by sight, familiar stranger, half-known, know by sight (in passing), now someone to nod to, loose connection, nodding acquaintance, not really acquainted, on distant/familiar terms, ON NODDING TERMS, on passing terms (speaking terms, superficial terms), on the fringes of someone's circle, passing familiarity (knowledge), passingly acquainted, peripheral acquaintance, recognise but don't know (without knowing), remote acquaintance, seen around, ships that pass in the night, slightly/socially acquainted, superficial/tangential familiarity (knowledge), tenuous connection, thin familiarity, vague acquaintance (familiarity), weakly connected, we cross paths

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Can you help me install this app?… I'm only ON NODDING TERMS with the new software.”

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THANKS to Maria for suggesting today’s OWAD

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