rub shoulders

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

I have rubbed shoulders with the rich and the very poor and those in between.

rub shoulders = keep company

V.

[emsr2d2]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentence?

I have rubbed shoulders with the rich and the very poor and those in between.

rub shoulders = keep company

V.

Yes, it means that the writer has been in the company of people of all those levels of society. It doesn't necessarily mean, though, that he/she knows them personally.

For example, if someone who lives in London regularly attends the same nightclubs that celebrities go to, they might say "Oh yes, I regularly rub shoulders with celebs". They've simply been in the same club, same room etc - the celebs probably don't know they exist!