What's up?

O

omnispace

Member
What is up with this phrase: "What's up?" ? What does it even mean? Is it simply a way to acknowledge another person's existence (without exchanging any actual information)? Such as, two people are walking past each other, each says "Sup?" and they keep walking.

Or are they actually looking for a response (with some actual information content): "Tell me what is new, what is happening, any major events in your life"? How should I determine an appropriate response then? It's not like I have major events in my life everyday. And if they wanted to know what was going on in the world, they could read the newspaper or watch the news. What if "nothing" is new? Should I tell them what I had for breakfast that morning? Should I give them a list of recent events, or just pick the most interesting?

Sorry if I'm over-complicating things. I'm just very confused by people and their conversations.
 
Anomaly

Anomaly

Well-known member
It's usually used as a greeting. They don't want you to tell them the details of your day. The majority respond with either "nothing much" or by stating their current activity.
 
lithium

lithium

Well-known member
I often find it difficult to reply to this phrase. I usually just say "nothing". Because, nothing is up, and if it were, I wouldn't be there talking to that person at that time.
 
xSleepy

xSleepy

Well-known member
I also don't know how to respond when someone says 'what's up'. And I feel really stupid about not knowing.

Sometimes I think it's just another way of saying hi, but then sometimes I think people actually want to know what's up.

Either way I think I have the potential to look stupid. Either I tell them what is up, while probably being really nervous since im not sure what they expect my to say (and then they end up not caring) or I don't tell them and then they think I'm being rude.

its confusing :\
 
G

gio289

1
Wenever i get this ques (everyday, atleast 50 million times), i always say "nun much man, chillin. Sup wit u?" usually jus goes from there
 
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