what's up

what's up

English

Alternative forms

• (nonstandard/slang:) 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]

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Phrase

what's up?

1. (idiomatic, colloquial, with up in the sense of "of concern") What’s the matter? What is the problem? What is wrong?

   You're looking a bit miserable. What's up?

   I got a call saying to come straight away. What's up?

   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], OCLC 458431182:

     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.

2. (idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly US, with up in the sense of "happening") What's happening? What are you doing?

   Synonyms: what's happening, what's new, what's the haps

   Hey, what's up? – Not much, just working.

3. (rhetorical question, colloquial) A casual greeting with a meaning similar to hi or nice to meet you.

   Hey, what's up? – Hey! Good to see you.

Usage notes

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

Translations

What’s the matter? What is the problem? What is wrong?

Dutch: wat is er aan de hand Esperanto: kio okazas?, kio estas la problemo?, kio misas? Hungarian: mi a baj? Indonesian: ada apa? Irish: céard atá ort?, cad atá cearr? Italian: che c'è Kapampangan: mipakananu ka?, mipakananu kayo?, mipakananu kayu po? Spanish: ¿qué pasa?, ¿cuál es el problema? Tagalog: ano'ng meron?, ano'ng problema Vietnamese: sao vậy? Welsh: beth sy'n bod Zazaki: se biyo

What’s happening? What are you doing?

Esperanto: kio okazas? Hungarian: mi a helyzet? Indonesian: apa kabar? Irish: céard atá ar siúl agat? Kapampangan: ninanu?, nananu?, menanu ka? Norwegian: Bokmål: hva skjer? Polish: jak leci? (pl), jak tam? (pl), co słychać? (pl) Spanish: ¿qué pasa?, ¿qué ocurre?, ¿qué estás haciendo? Tagalog: ano'ng balita? Urdu: کیا ہو رہا ہے؟‎ (kyā ho raha hai?) Vietnamese: gì vậy? Zazaki: seni sono

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?) Hijazi Arabic: إيش مسوي‎ (ʾēš musawwi?) Bikol Central: Bikol Naga: tara (bcl) Bikol Legazpi: nem, nom Breton: petra zo? (br) Catalan: què hi ha? Chinese: Mandarin: 怎麼樣／怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng) Danish: hvad så?, hva' så? Dutch: wat is er?, hoe gaat het?, alles goed? Esperanto: kiel vi fartas?, kiel vi?, kio novas? 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?, que hai?, como lle vai? Georgian: რას შვრები (ras švrebi) German: wie geht’s? (de), was läuft?, was geht?, was geht ab? Greek: τι γίνεται; (el) (ti gínetai?) Hebrew: מה קורה‎ Hungarian: mizu? (hu), mizus? mizujs? (abbreviations of mi újság?) Icelandic: hvað segist?, hvað er að frétta?, hvað er títt? Ido: quo eventas? Irish: cén scéal? Italian: come butta Kapampangan: nanu na?, musta naka? Kurdish: Northern 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: तिमीलाई कस्तो छ? (timīlāī kasto cha?)(formal), के छ? (ke cha?)(informal) Norwegian: Bokmål: hva skjer?, står til? Nynorsk: kva skjer? Persian: چه خبر؟‎ (če xabar?) Portuguese: e aí? (pt), tudo em cima?, tudo bem? (pt) 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?, kaj dogaja? (informal) Spanish: ¿qué tal?, ¿qué pasa?, ¿cómo estás? Sranan Tongo: ofa Swedish: läget? (sv) Tagalog: kumusta?, ano'ng balita? Thai: ว่าไง Turkish: ne haber? (n'aber?), naber Urdu: کیا حال ہے؟‎ n (kyā hāl hai?) Uzbek: nima gap? Welsh: siwmae Zazaki: seni beno

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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 (ēṁ 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)

See also

• what's up with
• what's up Doc

References

1. Gary Martin (1997–), “What's up”, in The Phrase Finder.