what about

what about

English

Pronunciation

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Adverb

what about (not comparable)

1. Used to make a suggestion.

   What about going to a restaurant tonight?

2. Used to ask someone to consider something or someone that they have apparently not considered.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 15, in The China Governess‎:

     ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’

   You're obviously having a good time, but what about me?

3. To repeat a question but referring to a different subject or object.

   A: Is John coming tomorrow?  B:Yes  A: What about David?

   A: Do you like football?  B:No  A: What about basketball?

4. To express approval of an occurrence or a result.

   What about the second goal!

Synonyms

• (making a suggestion): how about, how's about
• (asking for consideration): what of, how about

Derived terms

• whataboutery
• whataboutism

Translations

used to make a suggestion

Chinese: Mandarin: ...怎麼樣 (zh), ...怎么样 (zh) (...zěnmeyàng) Danish: hvad med Dutch: wat zeg je van Finnish: conditional + -ko, mitä jos + conditional, entä jos + conditional French: si + imperfect Georgian: იქნებ (ikneb) German: wie wär's mit Italian: se (it), e se + subjunctive Japanese: ...いかがですか (...ikaga desu ka), ...どうですか (ja) (...dō desu ka) Korean: 어때요 (ko) (eottaeyo) Polish: co powiesz na Portuguese: que tal...?, quem sabe…? Russian: что́ е́сли (štó jésli), как насчёт (kak nasčót) (+ genitive case) Spanish: ¿qué tal...? Swedish: vad sägs om att

used to ask someone to consider something or someone that they have apparently not considered

Chinese: Mandarin: ...怎麼樣 (zh), ...怎么样 (zh) (...zěnmeyàng), ...呢 (zh) (...ne) Danish: hvad med Dutch: en (nl), hoe zit het met Finnish: entä (fi) French: et (fr), quid, qu'en est-il de German: und (de), was ist mit Italian: e (it) Japanese: は (ja) (wa) Korean: 는 (ko) (neun) Navajo: shąʼ Ngazidja Comorian: e Polish: a (pl) Portuguese: e...?, e sobre...?, e quanto a...? Russian: а (ru) (a), а ка́к же (ru) (a kák že), (а) как насчёт ((a) kak nasčót) (+ genitive case) Spanish: y (es), ¿qué tal...? Swedish: och...då Vietnamese: còn (vi), còn ... thì sao Yiddish: וואָס איז מיט‎ (vos iz mit)

used to repeat a question

Burmese: ကော (my) (kau:) Chinese: Mandarin: 呢 (zh) Danish: hvad med Finnish: entä (fi) French: et (fr), quid (fr) Japanese: は (ja) (wa) Korean: 는 (ko) (neun) Polish: a (pl) Portuguese: e...? (pt) Vietnamese: còn (vi)

used to express approval

Finnish: entäpä (fi), entä (fi)