what's good
38
9.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
qué tal
- Sweden and other Scandinavian countries are at the forefront of what's good for children and families.
Examples
-
- What's good about it?
-
What do I do now? "What's good enough for mom is good enough for me?"
Fiction book (1995) -
And what's good for you is what's good for the company.
-
What's good for Oklahoma is good for the country.
-
Hey, what's good? Have you heard any good news lately?
-
I walked into the cafe and casually said, 'What's good?' to the barista.
-
When I saw my friend after a long time, I greeted him with, 'What's good?'
Synonyms
554
7.2
A friendly question asking how someone is or what they are doing
86
6.1
A formal greeting used when meeting someone for the first time that does not need an answer
3
9.9
A casual way to ask someone how they are or what they are doing
2
9.9
A short informal way to ask how someone is
2
9.9
A casual way to say hello to someone
2
8.5
To ask someone how they are when you meet them
1
8.6
A friendly informal way to say hello
A casual hello used to ask how someone is doing
A casual greeting that asks what is going on
To ask someone in a friendly, casual way how they are
A friendly informal greeting asking how someone is
A friendly informal greeting that asks how someone is doing
Antonyms
How Casual
- Slang
- Informal
38
9.1
- Informal
554
7.2
- Formal
86
6.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal composition 'what's' (what is) + 'good' yields an accessible sense of 'what is good' or 'what's positive', so a learner can roughly infer the general idea. However, its conventionalized use as an informal greeting/slang (equivalent to 'what's up' or 'how are things') and its pragmatic register are not fully predictable from the constituents, so B1 learners may not recognize the greeting function without exposure.
Etymology
What's good comes from the short question what is good, as if you are asking a friend if anything nice or new is happening. Imagine meeting someone and asking if there is any good news—so it became a casual way to say 'hello' or 'what's happening'.