what's been up?

[shabani]

Hi all,
Is "what's been up?" a common way of greeting?

Thanks

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


(1) What have you been up to?

(2) What's up?

[5jj]

'What's up?' appears to be quite commonly used as a greeting among friends and colleagues by the Americans I have worked with. It sounds strange to my (elderly) British ears.

To me 'What's up?' means 'What is going on/what has been going on?/what's the problem?'

[riquecohen]

'What's up?' appears to be quite commonly used as a greeting among friends and colleagues by the Americans I have worked with. It sounds strange to my (elderly) British ears. Very informal and used, I think, mostly by younger people. I've never used it this way.

To me 'What's up?' means 'What is going on/what has been going on?/what's the problem?' I hear this, and occasionally use it, in this sense.

Henry

[Barb_D]

It's been parodied in some commercials, as "Waaaazzzzzzuuppp?"

How do your elderly ear feel about "How's it going?"

For what it's worth, I see these two expressions as pretty much identical.

[emsr2d2]

Perhaps it's another BrE vs AmE difference, but I am now used to hearing "What's up?" to mean "How are you?" or "What's happening in your life?"

However, if I heard "What's been up?" I would assume that the speaker was talking to someone who had already said that recently they had not been well, or that they had been very unhappy.

- Hi, how are you?
- I'm OK, I guess. I've had a bad few months.
- Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. What's been up?

[bhaisahab]

It's been parodied in some commercials, as "Waaaazzzzzzuuppp?"

How do your elderly ear feel about "How's it going?"

For what it's worth, I see these two expressions as pretty much identical.

To me "How's it going" is different to "What's up". "What's up" suggests to me "What's wrong/what's the problem?" "How's it going, by contrast, means "How are you/How are things in your life? It's the same in French "Comment ça va?", which is very common, is a direct translation of "How's it going?"

[Barb_D]

I wasn't clear in my earlier post. I agree that "What's been up?" requires a situation where it makes sense and a genuine desire to know what has been going on.

I meant that "What's up?" and 'How's it going?" are more or less the same, and neither really expect an answer.

I also saw my typo, and didn't mean to imply that 5jj and Van Gogh had anything in common regarding the number of ears they possess.

[5jj]

I meant that "What's up?" and 'How's it going?" are more or less the same, and neither really expect an answer.

I feel the same difference as bhai, and I also feel that both require an answer. I used to be somewhat surprised when Americans would say one of those two to me, and then walk on without waiting for a response.

I also saw my typo, and didn't mean to imply that 5jj and Van Gogh had anything in common regarding the number of ears they possess.

Happy New Y....

Oh d...! It's not just me and VG. I f...it's catching.

[Barb_D]

Happy New Y to you too.