what's good
17
9.1
- idiom
- Informal
- 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
∞
7.2
A friendly question asking how someone is or what they are doing
101
6.1
A formal greeting used when meeting someone for the first time that does not need an answer
31
9.9
A short informal way to ask how someone is
19
9.9
A casual greeting that asks what is going on
16
9.9
A casual way to ask someone how they are or what they are doing
11
8.5
To ask someone how they are when you meet them
5
9.9
A casual way to say hello to someone
5
8.6
A friendly informal way to say hello
3
9.9
To ask someone in a friendly, casual way how they are
1
9.9
A casual hello used to ask how someone is doing
1
9.9
A friendly informal greeting asking how someone is
A friendly informal greeting that asks how someone is doing
Antonyms
How Casual
- Slang
19
9.9
- Informal
17
9.1
- Informal
∞
7.2
- Formal
101
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'.