Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, evryone!

When you hear someone say " What's up?" to you, how would you normally respond?

A. Nothing special.
B. Not much.
C. Nothing in particular.

I understand A and B are correct, but is C also OK? I found it in an English textbook, but I'm not sure if it's fine.

Thank you!

yoshi-pooh

[CP]

"What's up?" is an expression that originally was pretty much equivalent to "What's going on?" and "What's happening?", so your A, B, and C answers are all OK.

In the last several years, however, "What's up?", sometimes pronounced "Whassup?" and "What up?" and so on, has been used as a general greeting like "Hi" or "Hey." As such, you will hear people answer "What's up?" with "What's up?"

You will also hear announcers and performers come out on stage (or on the radio or on TV) and greet the audience with "What's up?", then immediately go into speaking or singing or whatever. They don't wait for an answer to the question because it really isn't a question any longer -- just a greeting.

So, Yoshi-Pooh, what's up?
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[yoshi-pooh]

What's up, CP and thanks for your reply.

I'm always quite impressed with your articulate comments.

yoshi-pooh,