what's up

English

English phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on usefulness, simplicity and commonness.

Alternative forms

Mostly nonstandard: wassup, what up, waz up, wazzup, whassup, wuzzup, wussup, sup, wa'up, swa'up, 'sup

Etymology

Made popular by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny as part of his catch phrase “What’s up Doc?”, as early as 1940.[1]

Phrase

what 's up?

(idiomatic, colloquial) What are you doing?; what is happening?
"Hey, what's up?" / "Not much, just working."
(rhetorical question, colloquial) A casual greeting with a meaning similar to how are you? or nice to meet you.
"Hey, what's up?" / "Hey! Good to see you."
(idiomatic, colloquial) What do you need?; How can I help you?
"Can I ask you something?" / "Sure, what's up?"
(idiomatic, colloquial) What’s the matter?
- 1884, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn:
  Hello, what's up? Don't cry bub. What's the trouble?
- 1912, W. Somerset Maugham, Lady Frederick: A Comedy in Three Acts, Act 1:
  Lady Frederick: Oh lord, I wish I were eighteen. [She sinks into a chair, and an expression of utter weariness comes over her face.]
  
  Gerald: I say, what's up?
  
  Lady Frederick: [Starting.] I thought you'd gone. Nothing.

Usage notes

Sometimes, people give sarcastic responses to this question, such as "the sky" or "the ceiling" (or anything that is above the speaker).

Synonyms

(how are you?): what’s happening?, what’s new?, what's the haps?
what are you doing?
(humorous): what's up Doc?

Translations

How are you?

American Sign Language: Open8@Chest-PalmBack-Open8@Chest-PalmBack Open8@SideNeckhigh-PalmBack-Open8@SideNeckhigh-PalmBack
Arabic:
Egyptian Arabic: عامل ايه؟‎ (ʿāmil ʾī?)
Breton: petra zo? (br)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 怎麼樣 (zh), 怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng)
Danish: hvad så?, hva' så?
Dutch: wat is er?, hoe gaat het?
Finnish: miten menee? (fi), mitä kuuluu? (fi), kuinkas hurisee? (fi), mikä on?, mitäs +person's name? (fi)
French: quoi de neuf ? (fr)
Galician: que tal?
Georgian: რას შვრები (ras švrebi)
German: wie geht’s? (de), was läuft?, was geht?, was geht ab?
Greek: τι γίνεται; (ti gínetai?)
Hebrew: מה קורה‎
Hungarian: mizu? (hu), mizus? mizujs? (abbreviations of mi az újság?)
Icelandic: hvað segist?, hvað er að frétta?, hvað er títt?

Ido: quo eventas?
Kurdish: çi heye, çi heye çi nîne (ku)
Latin: quid novi?
Luganda: eradde?, agafaayo?, agafa eyo? (to an intimate friend), mawulire ki?
Navajo: haʼíí baa naniná?, ąąʼ haʼíí?
Nepali: please add this translation if you can
Persian: ؟چی خبرها است‎ (či xabarhâ ast?)
Polish: jak leci?, jak tam?, co słychać?
Portuguese: e aí? (pt), tudo em cima?
Russian: как дела́? (ru) (kak delá?), в чём де́ло? (v čóm délo?), что случи́лось? (što slučílosʹ?), чё-как? (čó-kak?) (informal)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: što ima? (literary), kaj ima? (kajkavian dialect), šta ima? (informal), šta je? (rude)
Slovene: kako si, kje si?, kaj bo dobrega?, kako gre?
Spanish: ¿qué tal?
Swedish: läget? (sv)
Thai: ว่าไง
Turkish: ne haber? (n'aber?), naber

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} مَهْيَمْ‎ (ar) (mahyam)
Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} מה נשמע‎
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} ce s-a întâmplat?

Shona: ^{(please verify)} ndeipi
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} kaj dogaja?
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} ఏం జరిగింది (ēṃ jarigindi), ^{(please verify)} ఏమైంది (ēmaindi) (1); ^{(please verify)} ఏంటి సంగతులు (ēṇṭi saṅgatulu), ^{(please verify)} ఏంటి కబుర్లు (ēṇṭi kaburlu), ^{(please verify)} ఏంటి విశేషాలు (ēṇṭi viśēṣālu) (2)

References

What's up Doc by Gary Martin, phrases.org.uk.

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[1] What's up Doc by Gary Martin, phrases.org.uk.