半面之交

Pronunciation: bàn miàn zhī jiāo Literal meaning: Half-face acquaintance

Origin & Usage

This descends from the Book of Later Han, on Ying Feng, whose memory was such that a man glimpsed once at a half-open door was recognised by him years afterwards. A half-face (半面) acquaintance (之交) is therefore someone you have barely met — the phrase measures the thinness of the connection, not the strength of the memory. It names the slightest of acquaintanceships: somebody known by sight and hardly at all.

Examples

English: "They had only met briefly at conferences and weren't close enough for personal favors"

Chinese: 他们只在会议上简短会面过，关系还不足以请求私人帮助