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. Originally a common greeting from Bugs Bunny creator Tex Avery's neighborhood in Taylor, Texas.

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:

     Hello, what's up? Don't cry bub. What's the trouble?

   • 1890, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, wikipedia:The Firm of Girdlestone, Chapter 1:

     "What's up!" he asked, dropping back into a chair, and jingling the loose coins in his trouser pockets.

   • 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
• Finnish: mikä hätänä
• 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, nang atin
• Portuguese: o que foi?
• 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?

• Bulgarian: какво́ ста́ва (kakvó stáva)
• Esperanto: kio okazas
• Finnish: mitä teet
• Hungarian: mi a helyzet
• Indonesian: apa kabar (id)
• Irish: céard atá ar siúl agat
• Kapampangan: ninanu, nananu, menanu ka
• Marathi: काय चाललं आहे? (kāy cālla āhe?)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hva skjer

• Polish: co słychać (pl), co tam, jak leci (pl), jak się masz (pl), jak tam (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؟ (ʕāmil ʔī)

  Hijazi Arabic: إيش مسوي (ʔēš musawwi)

• Bikol Central:

  Bikol Legazpi: nem, nom

  Bikol Naga: tara (bcl)

• Breton: petra zo (br)
• Bulgarian: как си sg (kak si)? (informal), как сте sg or pl (kak ste)? (singular formal or plural)
• Catalan: què hi ha
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 怎麼樣／怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng) (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, come va
• Kapampangan: nanu na, musta naka, nanka
• 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 čom délo), что случи́лось (što slučílosʹ), чё-как (čo-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 (tl), ano'ng balita
• Thai: ว่าไง
• Turkish: ne haber (n'aber), naber
• Urdu: کیا حال ہے؟ n (kyā hāl hai), کیا خبر (kyā-xabar)
• 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