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Scenario: It's night, and a man is walking home. He sees ahead there is a woman going in the opposite direction as him. Knowing not to stop or approach her, but his presence makes her nervous. What would help further in this scenario if anything?

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[–] lonefighter@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

See maybe it's my part of the world, but I've always seen guys use an up nod as sort of a "yo, 'sup fellow human" , and a down nod as a "hello there". The up nod just has a subtly more chill bro feel to it, but either is fine lol.

Now I need to go poll some guys.

[–] autriyo@feddit.org 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

For me an up nod is a greeting towards somebody I know, or at least have seen before.

And a down nod is an respectful acknowledgement towards a stranger.

Idk if anyone else reads them that way though...

[–] lividweasel@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

That’s how I’ve always interpreted and done it.

[–] blackbrook@mander.xyz 11 points 2 days ago

I think there is a cultural thing around nods. I would definitely not recommend, in this situation, doing a nod that does not feel natural to you, so either do whatever nod you can actually pull off casually, or skip the nod.

There is also a locale specificity... Where I live, people don't usually nod or otherwise acknowledge strangers on the street. Some places you might be expected to smile and nod or even say hi.