what's up

English

Alternative forms

• (nonstandard/slang) wassup, what up, waz up, wazzup, whassup, wuzzup, wussup, sup, wa'up, swa'up, 'sup
• (texting) wsp

Etymology

Popularized by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny as part of his catchphrase “Eh... 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 (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌp

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], chapter XIII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 112:

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

   • 1890, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Mr. John Harston Keeps an Appointment”, in The Firm of Girdlestone: A Romance of the Unromantic, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 5:

     "What's up?" he asked, dropping back into a chair, and jingling the loose coins in his trouser pockets. / "I have had news of the Black Eagle," his father answered. "She is reported from Madeira."

   • 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).

Derived terms

• what's up Doc

Related terms

• what's up with

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?, qual é o problema?
• 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
• French: quoi de neuf (fr)
• Hungarian: mi a helyzet
• Indonesian: apa kabar (id)
• Irish: céard atá ar siúl agat
• Kapampangan: ninanu, nananu, menanu ka
• Latin: quid agis
• 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), ко става (ko stava) (informal)
• 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
• Ilocano: anya ngay
• Irish: cén scéal
• Italian: come butta, come va, bella fratè
• 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, que lo que, qué bolá (Cuba), qué boletín (Cuba), habla [causa] (Peru), qué onda (es)
• Sranan Tongo: ofa
• Swedish: läget (sv)
• Tagalog: kumusta (tl), ano'ng balita
• Thai: ว่าไง
• Turkish: ne haber (n'aber), naber
• Ukrainian: як справи (yak spravy)
• 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)