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- on a first-name basis
on a first-name basis
*on a first-name basis (with someone)
knowing someone very well; good friends with someone. (*Typically: be ~; get ~.) I'm on a first-name basis with John. John and I are on a first-name basis.
on a first-name basis
Quite familiar and friendly, as in Practically all the guests were on a first-name basis. This idiom alludes to the fact that using a person's given name betokens familiarity. [Second half of 1900s]