anyone here hate that common expression "what's up?"

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i do. it's because i never know how to respond to it.

one of the first times i was asked this, i pointed up, which people thought i was joking....ah well haha, let them think that. but yeah, annoying phrase, its like "my hair?.........my arms?" it doesn't makes sense as a saying, as its not really asking anything, its simply asking what the concept of "up" is, which is hard to explain with me not being a philosopher or anything. i wish people would just say "how are you?" instead

What I find more annoying is people who respond to it sarcastically by saying 'the sky' or looking up for a few seconds and then telling them what they see.

It's fine sometimes but not every single time someone asks you 'What's up?', then it just gets annoying.

randomeu is not who I'm talking about if he took it literally, I'm talking about the people who who make a tired, over-used and never-funny-the-first-time joke over it.

Anyway, you know what I think is even worse?

'What's crackalakin?'

Other than trite replies such as "the opposite of down", "the sky", and "prices and taxes" and rude responses such as "my (censored)", there are things such as describing a fictionalized bad day "My dog ran away and took my girlfriend with him", a random medical condition "My blood pressure since I ran into you", or a state of instant nauseation "My lunch, in just a few seconds." Choose your reply wisely.

Well there you go. The whole spectrum of choices. Personally, I always was challenged by the question, "What's up?" since, being an Aspie with poor comprehension of open-ended questions, I was never sure what the person meant.

For me, the solution was to always have a politically correct stock answer. Bearing in mind that most people asking this question do not want a detailed answer, the canned answers were short, worthy of a politician or a newscaster, and general. For example, "I'm looking forward to the end of the quarter" was an excellent answer to this question in college. Giving a long answer is the oblique way to be rude, like answering "the sky" only much longer. If you have the discipline and the stamina, engaging in a 60-second answer to the question usually will torture the other person. If you are in physics, for instance, launching into a discussion about how "I finally have learned how to solve the Schroedinger Equation" and starting to explain how will completely derail the other person.

I think it's funny how we Aspies don't like these ambiguous social customs of language. It's clear we're being practical, but the rest of the world isn't.

If I could think of it on the spot, I would hopefully reply 'Nothing is up. Up and down are illusionary terms. Oh, and time is nonexistent." While I left them puzzling over that, I would theoretically make my escape.

I don't mind the question but I hate when I ask it & someone answers literally trying to be funny instead of telling me what's going on. I also hate the budweiser commercials that used it.

yeah i had to quickly learn that that isn't what they meant haha.......arn't people confusing

I ask 'what specifically do you want to know about my current state, in what capacity?' or I mock the term as far too shallow and wilted... I say ''the ceiling of this room being slowly crushed by the bathroom's aspirations to escape the stench of toilet time and dirty shower water'' or something equally unhelpful yet infinitely more lively. I add a superior layer to the conversation, I could just reply ''not much'' or some other banal statement but I do the first two or cut straight to the chase and say I'm cheesed off because of x lol.

Nah, I don't hate it. But I can certainly see why some Aspies would.

I don't mind "what's up" that much, since I usually understand it to mean that someone just wants to know what is happening in my life, without a value judgment attached.

However, I really dislike when people ask me "how's it going," because all succinct answers I can provide to that question are dishonest. Every time I always wind up saying something like "it's okay" and then clarifying what's good and what's bad. Which is fine, I guess, but considering that I'm going to always tell you that my life is in a state of relative mediocrity, why ask me to rate it?

And that's the thing: I find that some majority of the time, if someone asks "how's it going," they don't really want to hear any other answer besides "it's good." If I answer with anything besides that, lots of people are either confused that I'm complaining about something (and it's like... what, you asked), or they act concerned like I'm really not happy with my life even though that's not what I said.

Ask me to evaluate something for you, and I'll evaluate it. No more, no less.

It depends. If it's asked by a certain grey and white bunny and adds the name "doc", I like it. Otherwise I can take it or leave it. Actually I don't think it's all that common a greeting where I live. A more well-known greeting is "What's goin' on?". Actually I sometimes say it myself, although it's usually because I really do want to know what's going on and it's not just a greeting.

One expression that's bugs me is when someone says "I can't wrap my head around" something. Because physically you can't wrap your head around much of anything. But you can wrap other things around your head. Like the duct tape I'd like to use on the person who said it.

Somebody said, "Oh, same old, same old. You?"
I thought it was a good response to those greetings.

I hate that expression. I find it almost as distasteful as Valley Talk. I also don't care for the expression, "What's new?".

I'm getting a little better at those things. Life experience, and all that. Because it totally depends on Who's Asking.

If it's a very casual acquaintance, a store clerk, a co-worker you hardly ever talk to, who's asking "What's up?" or "How are you?" – they aren't really requesting any information. Those are just greetings, signifying 'I acknowledge you as a person.' Your response of "Not much, you?" or "Fine, how have you been?" means 'And I acknowledge you as a person as well.' No actual personal information is to be exchanged!

The aspie tendency is to take these as literal requests for information, and share more than ought to be shared. (The bartender doesn't really want to know that I have a toothache, or that I'm worried about my mother's health.) Or: to decide that these social conventions are unimportant, or too difficult, and ignore them or decline to respond properly. Then you come across as cold, brusque, rude, arrogant.

Sometimes a greeting-question can mean 'I don't usually see you in this time and place' (He sees me in that bar every Wednesday evening, but there I am on a Saturday afternoon. So … what's up?) or 'You look preoccupied.' Then you have to decide if you want to give the standard meaningless response, or if you want to let this person a little farther into your life with "Got promoted, so I'm celebrating!" or "Had a big fight with my wife."

If it's an actual friend, then he really does want to know about major developments in your life. 'We had another baby' … 'Lost my old job, but I start a new one Monday.' That kind of thing. But you still have to decide if he's a close enough friend to hit with the bad stuff …

Annoyingly, people don't come with little labels saying 'I am a Level 2 acquaintance. Tell me you just got back from vacation, but don't offer any details until I ask.'

What's up? The price of living …

i don't care.
when someone says to me "what's up" i always say "nothing much".
that quells the conversation.


but really, if one wants to get literal about it, then the answer to the question of "what's up" would be:

"a direction that is opposite to the force of gravity that is the dominant force of gravity that you are currently under the influence of".