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?

    • lonefighter@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      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
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        1 day ago

        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…

      • blackbrook@mander.xyz
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        1 day 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.

    • DaPorkchop_ [they/she/it]@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      TIL i’ve had it backwards all this time. oh well, guess i’ll just add it to the mountain of “basic aspects of basic human interaction that i will now be overthinking on manual mode for the rest of my life” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      In thia context i would interpret it as “Hey, it’s pretty dark out here. Wanna buy drugs?”

      Or just summoning someone to come over to you

    • Ashenlux@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      23 hours ago

      I have always read it as down nod is for acknowledging someone you don’t know/ know very well, and up nod is for people you know. The idea being you nod down to cover your vital neck while also making eye contact, in a sorta “I see/I am watching you if you try something”. Up nod reveals the neck, showing trust and comfortability.