What's Up?

Pic : Depiction of the possible origins for the subject matter discussed below

To begin with I would like to point out that the title to this post, by itself, is very controversial. Considering the topic at hand, there would be a lot of passionate discussion among all the readers as to what exactly would be the spelling of the “oh so often” used shortened form of “What is up?”. Technically, the response to such a statement can and in all reality, should be of the order of “Fan”, “Sky”, “Ceiling” or to crude double entendres which I would rather not touch upon here (no pun intended). All the same the nature of the generic “Watsup” (the spelling I will follow for convenience), has developed over the years to mean more and much more than more.

In the annals of history, two strangers passing each other by, only had the ‘smile’ to confront each other with. This passing gesture was densely packed and ridiculously conspicuous with the absence of any vocal acknowledgment. Ofcourse, a tip of the hat with a nice “How do you do?” or “Good morning” can be imagined. But then I would have to account for the cross legged, knee bending, skirt holding ladies. All of which I will have to imagine up from movies. So, for now I choose to ignore the overly polite gentlemen and wonderfully cultured ladies here. Anywayyy, as I was saying, the smile stood for all that we, as humans did not represent. If baring of teeth or widening of lips was enough to pass messages, how would we distinguish us as the evolved individuals we are!!!

And thus comes the role of “Watsup”. No amount of Googling will be able to explain when along the history of English language this came into such common usage. But certain mannerisms in which it is used does hint that it has to be over the last few decades. Now, as mentioned earlier, there is a confusion as to how it is actually said, typed or heard. The variations in emotion as well as actions associated with this small word can only be matched by the equally stunning “Awww”. Listing out a few of the usages would be as below :

1. SUP : This is a highly shortened form of the word and is usually given with a nod or tilt of the head in the backward direction

2. WATSAAAAP/WASSAAP : Usually used between people who know each other very well. Actions associated with this could be ‘High Fives’, ‘Fist pumping’ (sometimes followed by an imaginary blowing up of the said fists) and in extreme cases, running into each others' chests.

3. WHATSUP : This normal usage of the word can have multiple connotations. It could either be in response to “Can I speak to you” etc, or in place of customary hi’s. At times, when said in a solemn tone and preceded by “Awww”, it can imply deep concern and interest.

Other variations to the above mentioned usages can be WAZZAAAP, WAZZUP, WASSUP, WADDAAAP etc. All these can further divided based on the number of A’s, Z’s or S’s. Years of usage and observation have shown that the first W and second A are rarely extended.

The beauty of the word is in the fact that, a mutual exchange of “WATSUP”s can be followed by a smile, a nod or even nothing at all and still the conversation can be deemed a success! In addition, any amount of translation to other languages can not give the same feeling or impact. Eg. Upar kya hai(Hindi), Molil entha (Malayalam).

So, go forth, enjoy, interact and don’t forget the customary smile and the WASSUPs that makes us social beings and the world a better place to live in.