"What's the haps?"

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

I suspect that most members and guests are young people.

And young people often like to talk cool.

Everyone, even I, knows the greeting "What's up?"

But I just learned a new greeting that I had never known: What's the haps? (= What's happening?)

I just thought that some of the young members would like to know this so that they can talk cool with their friends.

 

[Skrej]

Some things shouldn't be encouraged to grow - some things should be actively exterminated.:snipersm:


Hopefully this expression has the briefest of life spans.

 

[Nancy B]

Unfortunately, the phrase has already had a long lifespan. :-( According to the urbandictionary.com site, it first appeared in 1987, 1992, or 2002, depending on the person reporting. It was, "regaining popularity" in 2008. It is safe to say that one would not sound especially hip if he or she used it. I am 56 years old, and it sounded familiar and old, so I took a chance and looked it up. Being new here, I do not know if this site considers the UrbanDictionary site as valid reference, but I find that it is helpful.

I am not a teacher. I am a native English speaker who has memory lapses in which I cannot remember parts of common phrases and idioms, so I joined so that I may look them up easily.

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum, Nancy. :hi:

We frequently cite the UrbanDictionary when we're dealing with unfamiliar slang terms. The phrase might have reached the UK but I've never heard it. Having said that, I don't tend to hang around with people who use a lot of street slang. ;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Happily, I have never heard this expression.

 

[probus]

Hey Nance:

Welcome aboard.

As far as I know, we are descriptive rather than prescriptive, although you wouldn't know it from the massive senior resistance to this harmless slang phrase.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It has nothing to do with descriptive vs prescriptive. It is a about a silly slang phrase.

 

[Tdol]

The phrase might have reached the UK but I've never heard it.

I have never come across it either, though I don't spend much time hanging out with the people who might have imported it.

 

[probus]

It has nothing to do with descriptive vs prescriptive.

Well I think it has.

Nancy B has provided substantial evidence that the phrase has been in current use by native speakers for a few years. Why then does our senior faculty detest it so and decline to explain it? How is it worse than "do the stanky leg" or "ain't got none", or for that matter "23 skidoo"?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Why does this bother you so much?

 

[probus]

It has nothing to do with descriptive vs prescriptive.

Well I think it has. Nancy B has provided persuasive evidence that the phrase has been in use by native speakers for several years. Why then do our senior faculty dislike it and decline to interpret it? How is it worse than "do the stanky leg", or "ain't got none" or "23 skidoo"?

 

[probus]

Why does this bother you so much?

Because of the job I think we all signed up to do.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I didn't sign up to recommend silly slang phrases. Don't know about you. There are many such phrases in use. This one is not special.

 

[acme_54]

It has nothing to do with descriptive vs prescriptive. It is a about a silly slang phrase.

"Silly" is in the eye/ear of the beholder. I personally think it's harmless. Nevertheless, as a former TEFLA trainer and working translator with a fondness for language/s, what I do find disappointing is the apparently snooty and “holier than thou” dismissal of the term, and by extension, of the asker.
I’d expected more from the forum. :-|

 

[Tdol]

"Silly" is in the eye/ear of the beholder. I personally think it's harmless. Nevertheless, as a former TEFLA trainer and working translator with a fondness for language/s, what I do find disappointing is the apparently snooty and “holier than thou” dismissal of the term, and by extension, of the asker.
I’d expected more from the forum. :-|

There are other views expressed- I said that I had never heard it in the UK, though also pointed out that I am not that young. Forums are places where people say what they think, and the fact that someone thinks something is silly does not mean that this is the opinion of the entire forum. We have to rub along and allow differences of opinion. Some may think it's silly, other may point out the geographical/age limits of it, etc, and Probus came out in favour of it. To characterise the view of the forum by quoting the view of one is to misunderstand the forum. We have people of different backgrounds, variants and views expressing opinions, and often that allows someone to see a varied picture of a question and get closer to the heart of it.

I love Cockney Rhyming Slang. I have heard a few speakers of other variants say that they find it irritating and confusing. A learner who sees this will learn that this slang is not for everyone- that seems a sensible position to me.

 

[probus]

I love the expression "rub along". It is purely BrE, of course, never heard or understood in AmE.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I've never heard it.

 

[Tdol]

You can be the first importers of this great verb. It does have a degree of friction that get along lacks. ;-)