I’ve been a people watcher for a long time now, and I’m really intrigued by human body language. I’ve just recently realized that the nod, so many of us men use to say “hello” doesn’t seem to cross over to women. All men know this nod, don’t they? There are actually two different nods. When you pass someone you don’t know, and you make eye contact, the nod is downward. When you see a good friend, the nod seems to be of the upward variety, with the eyebrows slightly lifted.
Does anyone know the origin of this nod (or if there even IS an origin), and why women don’t seem to be inclined to say hello this way?
My WAG would be the nod head down is kinda like “hello” or “how are you?”. The nod head up is like “hey there” or “what’s up?”. I also see it more in cities, not so much in small towns. There people are more likely to actually say hello or wave.
It seems in cities that it is not too polite to actually catch someone’s eye, stare directly at a person. Mostly the eye seems to recognize that you are there, then just slide off to the next object or person. If you look directly at someone, or catch someone’s eye as you walk toward them, most people get uncomfortable.
I don’t know if I explained that too well or not. Just another observation on body language.
Here’s my WAG: The downward nod is a vestigal tip of the hat, even though most of us never wear hats anymore, and don’t tip them when we do.
The upward nod seems to imitate the body language of someone who is about to say something. This ritualized greeting has changed emphasis from actually saying hello to merely having the intent to. Good enough for me.
