Refers to a merely “in name only” type of hug that you give someone whom you do not actually have romantic/affectionate feelings toward, but are just “going through the motions” to be polite/agreeable.
There are various reasons why one might administer a nominal embrace; the most common situations might be (A) you are giving the other person a proxy hug as a favor for someone else, or (B) you are at a party, wedding, or other social gathering where “everyone is doing it” --- i.e., giving a hug --- to one or more “special” attendees, such as the hostess, "birthday boy/girl", the newlyweds, etc., or (C) the huggee is either mentally challenged and thus craves “cuddly attention” from everyone around him, or he is presently going through a rough time in his life, and thus he needs all the emotional support he can get.
When something doesn'tgo where all the players involved think it is going to go. Equally applicable when talking about putting spacecraft in orbit as it is when PIV aim gets a little off and ends up in surprise buttsecks.
You're aiming a little low there, big fella, going to end up with an off-nominal insertion if you poke any harder!