The degree of familiarity with another person, which, if you chance to encounter them on the street, will determine if you merely greet them in passing or stop to talk.
We saw each other on the sidewalk and said 'hello' to each other. But she was just a friend of a friend I'd only met once or twice before, and there wasn't enough chat gravity to merit stopping and chatting.
by ClevelandRox March 7, 2006