What's he do now?

[GoodTaste]

What's is usually the contraction of what is orwhat has. But here it seems to stand for what does. So it might be informal. Am I on the right track?

Does such use of "what's" give you the impression that the speaker is less educated?

===================

"Do I know the guy?"
"Richic Coniglio. From the neighborhood.Hairy little guy."
"That pipsqueak? What's he do now?"
"He's a fancy-pants lawyer. Richer than God.He lives over in Muttontown."


Source: Aloft by Chang-rae Lee (Guardian comments: A writer of immense subtlety and craft.) page 141

 

[tedmc]

The apostrophe 's' is meant to be a contraction of 'is' but it looks like it has expanded to other auxiliary verbs like 'has' and 'does'. Native speakers would use contractions at the slighest opportunity in spoken English to the extent that the uncontracted auxiliaries are considered "less natural", so it is not a reflection of the educational level of the speaker.