What's Up with "'Sup"?
Printer-friendly versionI’ve heard the phrase uttered hundreds of times, in a wide variety of situations, spat from the mouths of a massive range of speakers. Locker rooms, passing time in the hallway, lunch lines and other brief encounters often involve that familiar question being haphazardly thrown into the air…"Sup?" "Sup?" is actually a contraction for the phrase "What is up," meaning "What is your current situation?" Be it physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, economically, romantically, etc… But, upon further investigation and observation, I noticed something fascinating! The phrase is used most often between two people who are acquaintances, but not truly friends. When fighting to get to my class during passing periods, shooting between gaps of people and "accidentally," shouldering small women and children out of the way in a desperate berserker frenzy to get to class, I manage to avoid interaction with mild acquaintances, the true foe of social comfort.
But, when I find myself walking down a less busy offshoot of a hallway, I often make definite, undeniable eye contact with someone I’ve shared a few words and laughs with recently so I feel obliged to acknowledge his presence. Quickly! Do I "Pound it?" No! I don’t feel like catching him unaware, delivering a swift punch. Not today. Do I bow? Nope. Hug? Not with this guy… the tell tale dark, damp, sweat spot on his chest shouts that he just had gym. We both look up from our invisible teleprompters on the floor, and I ask, inspired by a jolt of striking, brilliant, originality, "Sup?" As this word drops from my mouth to fill the awkward void between us, I notice something significant. I truly do not care what the person answers. Upon the utterance of the phrase, I am freed from any obligation I feel to adhere to the high school and human social code of proper interaction.
This saying has been diluted so greatly by the death of emotional connectivity in everyday life that when asked "What’s up?" there are only two answers that I frequently hear. One is an instinctive response which contributes no information and functions purely as a sign that the question was heard. The response I hear so often is the always popular and groundbreaking "Not Much." Really? If you were to give any careful thought to my question, I hope deeply that your answer would be greatly different, like "Oh! I’m working on a very difficult kitten puzzle at home," or "I have an important soccer match today and Coach Smith is letting me start!" or "I have 100 followers on Twitter!" Unless you are some sort of single celled fungal organism, you probably could have conjured a response that would give the inquirer more insight into who you are, compared to the weak, non-committal, emotion silencing, "Not Much." (Or "Nm" as texters know it).
The other routine response is disturbing and hilarious, confusing and captivating. From the mouths of all who are unwilling to open up, comes, as an answer mind you, the word "Sup?" I know that when it is seen in writing (Question: Sup?...Answer: Sup?) it seems bizarre; how can one answer a question with the question you were just asked? And then, how can both parties carry on their shielded lives without any thought regarding how inane that occurrence had been. The reason they can give no thought about their response, is because no one gives any thought unless one is willing to progress and evolve, which many are afraid and reluctant to do. The "Not Much" answer is worth zero points, because it answers the question being asked, but the answer doesn’t have true motion provoking substance. So, when one fails to even address the question, and instead blindly mimics the query, that is without a doubt, worth negative points. It is not just a lack of progression of human emotional/mental interaction, but rather (Provoked by the use of empty questions like "Sup?") the response is regression towards our self-driven and primal past, where our view goes no farther than our cave and our source of nourishment. To me, progressive perfunctory actions, as simple as posing a thoughtful question and giving a serious answer, can defy thought constricting catch-phrases like the "Sup?" plague, and lead to progression of our universal human consciousness. I will make sure to act rather than simply preach, and I look forward to stunning an ensnared passerby who casually tossed out the dreaded phrase with the solid reply of "Well, I’m glad you asked! I’m a little nervous because tomorrow, I’m going to my grandma’s house after school, and it’s kinda awkward because she can’t hear very well, and I’m not sure she even knows who I am, and…etc" and smiling as I soak in their forced attentiveness.
