Why's "what's up" used as greeting among young people? It sounds like asking "what is up there"?
A: What's up?
B: The sky.
asked Jan 22, 2013 at 9:18
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1What's going down? Just idioms. What's up was popularised by Bugs Bunny and again as wazzup from a beer commercial so not just among young people– mplungjanCommented Jan 22, 2013 at 9:28
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@mplungjan: Still, every idiom has some origin and knowing origin of this one would be interesting. My guess: it's directly related to "What's the top news?"– SF.Commented Jan 22, 2013 at 9:55
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Sure - see my answer– mplungjanCommented Jan 22, 2013 at 9:58
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2 Answers
Up has many, many uses and referring to something that is above is just one of them.
What’s up is not an innovation by the young of today. As a statement or a question about what might be happening, it isn't particularly new. In a letter written in 1838, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell wrote I did not mention a word to Lucy but she must have guessed something was ‘up’. Even in its reduced form of wassup, it’s over 100 years old.
answered Jan 22, 2013 at 9:33
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2Absolutely. I think it's a trivial extension from What are you up to? and {he is} up to no good, both of which occur well before even your citation. Commented Jan 22, 2013 at 14:59
Just another idiom
Etymology
Made popular by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny who used it as early as 1940 as part of his catch phrase “What’s up Doc?” (where each word was pronounced distinctly).Alternative forms wassup, what up, waz up, wazzup, whassup, wuzzup, wussup, sup, wa'up, swa'up, what's good
