[Idiom] What's the matter?

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Leiard

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I did not find "What's the matter?" in the database, so I wanted to ask whether this is more an American or a British idiom.
Thank you!
 
Welcome to the forum. :hi:

It's certainly very common in BrE.
 
I would qualify what's the matter?​ as an idiom, not slang.
 
It's very common in the US also.
 
I wouldn't call it an idiom or slang. It's a simple direct question which you would aim at someone when you think, for some reason, that they have a problem of some kind.
 
I consider it an idiom because the noun matter changes its meaning in the fixed phrase the matter (with).

A.A. Milne, no champion of slang, wrote a whole poem about something being the matter:


What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's crying with all her might and main,
And she won't eat her dinner - rice pudding again -
What is the matter with Mary Jane?


What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I've promised her dolls and a daisy-chain,
And a book about animals - all in vain -
What is the matter with Mary Jane?


What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well, and she hasn't a pain;
But, look at her, now she's beginning again! -
What is the matter with Mary Jane?


What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I've promised her sweets and a ride in the train,
And I've begged her to stop for a bit and explain -
What is the matter with Mary Jane?


What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain,
And it's lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
 
Not one of the finest Milne examples.
 
I've always quite liked that one. There's no accounting for taste, eh?
 
What's up? What happened?

Carole, what's the matter? You don't seem happy.
 
that is idiom,,,it is commonly used everywhere.
 
Welcome to the forum, Angela.:)

That is an idiom. It is commonly used everywhere.
Please note my amendments to your capitalisation and punctuation.

ESL students expect native English-speakers to write in perfect English.

I suggest you add 'as far as I know' at the end, unless you know for a fact that it's commonly used in every English-speaking community in the world.
 
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