Sidle up to this one

A month or so ago, a friend of mine commented on how someone we knew had a tendency to sidle up to people. I didn't really have a good idea of what sidle meant, so I asked. He sent me the definition you;d get if you type "define:sidle" into Google:

  • move unobtrusively or furtively; "The young man began to sidle near the pretty girl sitting on the log"
  • move sideways

It was a pretty good definition of this person, who you never see coming. The American Heritage Dictionary adds that a sidle can also be a coy move, as in "swindlers who sidle up to tourists."

Sidle is a back-formation from sideling, which the AHD defines as an adjective:

  • 1. Directed to one side; oblique.
  • 2. Sloping; inclined.