What does "a nod to the past" mean?

Question

Hi!

I often see the phrase "a nod to the past". What does it mean?

Please help! Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

It's a euphemism for acknowledging something in the past with respect.

SO, for example, let's say they used features from a 57 Chevy to model a brand new 2009 car. the 2009 model would give a "nod to the past".

Often, aspects of fashion give a nod to the past because they use elements of retro fashion but incoporate them with new things to make them modern.

Answer 2

It is an example of a figure of speech. Here's are some examples I found:

"All people in all places make their way in the world with some nod to the past and with an eye to the future."

For the temple builders of the archaic period, such allusions to features of monumental Mycenaean architecture may have been a nod to the past, a means to lay claim to the heroic age, or an advertisement of the antiquity of cults."

"Fifteen years ago,” he began, with a nod to the past, “we were perhaps over-confident, and dismissed the problems of the great thinkers of the past as mere verbal confusions."

The earliest usage of the phrase I could find was in "The New Yorker" magazine on Feb. 28, 1925.

Answer 3

that was decided during the council of trent. many cardinals and bishops argued over this, it was a month long symposium. The countryside was sorely taxed, taking care of the personal needs of these great men. Several were executed in the process but in the end, nodding came to mean "yes" and the side to side motion came to mean "no". The extent of conviction was indicated by the vigorousness of the movement. If someone asked you if you wanted cream in your coffee, and you did, you were supposed to bob your head up and down rapidly, even VIOLENTLY at least eight times.

Answer 4

I have never encountered such an expression. However, I will have a go to unravel it for you.

If you nod at someone, you are giving them cursory attention .
So, I imagine that if you are merely nodding at the past, then you acknowledge it, but you are not going to be over influenced by it.
You will have other criteria by which you will make your decisions.

Answer 5

I think it is more than just respect for the past. I think it is acknowledging that the present "owes" the past for what it has done to make now possible. The new Chevy exists now "because" the 59 Chevy existed first.
Happy New Year to You !

Answer 6

All of the previous responders are correct. It is a way of paying respect to the past. It looks and/or feels like a past way of doing things so to speak.

Answer 7

I think it means showing respect to the past, or acknowledging the way things were in the past.

Answer 8

I believe it means doing something (in the present), and incorporating aspects of a previous existing 'thing', to show it respect.

For example, my grandfather always used to say "I love you, boy". Now I find myself saying that to my own children. They only hear that I love them, but when I say it, I hear my grandfathers voice. That saying is my "nod to the past". I way of keeping him alive in my memory.

Answer 9

What Does Nod Mean

Answer 10

NODDING AT PAST