I only have a nodding acquaintance with the works of Shakespeare, Felix said.

Could you explain "nodding acquaintance"?

My comments:

An acquaintance is someone you know but only a little of. Perhaps you've just met or perhaps you've met a few times but haven't talked much. Perhaps all you have ever said to him or her was "Hi", "How are you?" or "Nice weather, today, isn't it?"

A nodding acquaintance is such a relationship, in which all you do to each other was nodding the head by way of saying hello, as a most casual gesture of the other person's presence.

In other words, you don't know each other well at all.

Felix's nodding acquaintance with the works of Shakespeare, hence?

It means, in short, Felix has read very little of Shakespeare.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.