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. [1]

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Phrase

what's up?

(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.
(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.
(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)

References

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

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