# What’s up?



## Greek Texan

I'd like to say "What’s up?" or "What's happening" like in colloquial American.  Is this a good way to do it?

τι γίνεται;


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## elineo

Τί γίνεται; πως πάει, όλα καλά; (=_Ola Kala_, the origin of _OK_)


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## Greek Texan

Are you agreeing that "Τί γίνεται;" is OK to use? 

Is "πως πάει, όλα καλά;" merely another option, or better to use?

What does Τί χαμπάρια; mean?


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## orthophron

Greek Texan said:


> Are you agreeing that "Τί γίνεται;" is OK to use?
> 
> Is "πως πάει, όλα καλά;" merely another option, or better to use?
> 
> What does Τί χαμπάρια; mean?


Hi! 
"what's up" can be rendered as "τι συμβαίνει" or "τι τρέχει" and less often "τι γίνεται".
"τι γίνεται" has mainly the meaning of "πώς πάει" : "how are you doing".
The phrase "τι γίνεται εδώ" means "what's going on here".
"όλα καλά" means "everything alright".
"τι χαμπάρια" (vulgar) means "what's the news".


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## Greek Texan

χίλια ευχαριστώ


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## Greek Texan

So, if I say Πώς πάει; όλα καλά; I am saying "How are you doing?  Everything OK?"


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## elineo

Το _'τι χαμπάρια'_ προέρχεται από τα αραβικά και σημαίνει είδηση, νέο και χρησιμοποιείται σε αρκετές διαλέκτους. Την συνάντησα και στην Κένυα, στα σουαχίλι είναι καθημερισμός χαιρετισμός  habari gani? habari yako? (τί κάνεις. Το _'τι χαμπάρια_' δεν πολυχρησιμοποιείται πλέον στα ελληνικά*. *


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## Eltheza

Greek Texan said:


> So, if I say Πώς πάει; όλα καλά; I am saying "How are you doing?  Everything OK?"



Ναι! Τέλεια! (perfect!)


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## Casparul

elineo said:


> Τί γίνεται; πως πάει, όλα καλά; (=*Ola Kala, the origin of OK*)


 
Never heard that before. Do you have any reference to this claim?


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## Eltheza

Hi Casparul!

Many Greeks have told me this!

See 1. under 'Etymology' here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay


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## BrendaP

There are lots of theories on the origins of o.k.....Latin, Omnis Korrecta... Scottish, och-aye...just to name a few. I like to think it was όλα καλά.

On my first visit to Greece, back in 1977, my brother-in-law used to say "τι έγιναι" when he came home at the end of the day. I knew very little about the language back then and didn't know whether to answer καλά or ναι οr τίποτα. It's an expression that still confuses me.


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## Casparul

Eltheza said:


> Hi Casparul!
> 
> Many Greeks have told me this!
> 
> See 1. under 'Etymology' here:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay


 
Hello Eltheza - and thanks for the reply!

Well, don't believe everything you hear - especially from native speakers (they usually consider themselves experts although they may have no linguistic knowledge whatsoever) ... 

Having said that, όλα καλά seems at least as plausible as many of the other theories regarding the etymology of OK, although it was not among the five or six theories I had already heard (I must say that Wikipedia's list of possible etymologies was impressive!).

At any rate, I just wanted to point out that so far no one has determined with certainty where the expression OK comes from, and the fact that "many Greeks have told you this" has probably more to do with chauvinistic pride than linguistic fact (the father in "My big fat Greek wedding" comes to mind ... ).


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## Eltheza

Hi Casparul!

The wink (;-)!) in my reply was meant to indicate that my views on this concur with what you say in your last paragraph above;-)))!


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## orthophron

BrendaP said:


> ... On my first visit to Greece, back in 1977, my brother-in-law used to say "τι έγιναι" when he came home at the end of the day. I knew very little about the language back then and didn't know whether to answer καλά or ναι οr τίποτα. It's an expression that still confuses me.


Both "τι έγινε" (έγινε: past tense of γίνεται) and "τι γίνεται" can be used as the rendering of "how are you doing" or "how is it going" or "are there any news?". Of course they can have their literal meaning: τι γίνεται = what's happening, τι έγινε = what happened.


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## BrendaP

Thanks orthophron.  I think I usually answered τίποτα.  He never looked at me "strangely", anyway


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## orthophron

BrendaP said:


> Thanks orthophron. I think I usually answered τίποτα. He never looked at me "strangely", anyway


Why should he? You answered "τίποτα" (nothing) meaning nothing bad happened/ nothing to worry about, thus everything is ok.


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