Blatantly refusing to say hello to someone is serious business. The act of not accepting a proffered hand, for instance, is an extremely powerful show of contempt or disdain.

There are many instances in film, television and theatre when an outstretched arm is met with inaction – a tense moment indeed, leaving no doubt about what the greetee thinks of the greeter.

Similarly, to hang up the phone without a word after hearing who is calling is almost always portrayed as a great affront in any form of dramatic productions.

In the comedy Black Books, ‘blanking’ (as the refusal to acknowledge someone else is called) is described as something intensely invidious:

Many are the instances on the political arena where representatives of one side have refused to shake hands with someone from the other.

But it is not all about handshakes. During the opening ceremony of the 1908 Olympic Games in London, a bitter feud between the United Kingdom and the USA caused the American flag-bearer Ralph Waldo Rose to refuse to lower or ‘dip’ the Stars and Stripes before King Edward VII – a most controversial non-greeting. The Irish-born US discus thrower Martin Sheridan was reported to give his famous justification that ‘this flag dips to no earthly king’. And indeed, this caused a precedent: it became custom that the American Olympic team does not dip the flag at these events.