nodding acquaintance: Meaning and Definition of

nod'ding acquain'tance

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a slight, incomplete, or superficial knowledge (of something or someone): He had only a nodding acquaintance with Italian and didn't trust it to get him through the tour. Although we were neighbors for several years, we had only a nodding acquaintance.
  2. a person with whom one is only slightly acquainted: I don't really know what he's like--he's only a nodding acquaintance.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.