The origin of this phrase is a bit obscure, but the use of the word ‘onda’ in colloquial speech can be traced back to the sixties.

The literal – but not entirely helpful – translation of ‘qué onda’ would be ‘what wave’ which, to be fair, paints a picture, but maybe one of sunny beaches rather than greeting someone informally or asking about their life. If you happen upon some of these expressions unprepared, you may well be left pondering what exactly the city of Pachuca has to do with the city of Toluca … or why your ‘chilango’ friend greeted you with the word ‘ fart’!Īnyway, buckle up those seatbelts and let´s get into it! There’s a huge variety of expressions used to ask somebody ‘ what´s up’ in Spanish and Mexico, in particular, has an abundance of fantastic phrases, not to mention all their whimsical variations. However, if you want to up your game and have something up your sleeve in all situations, learning how to say the more colloquial ‘ what´s up’ definitely won´t go amiss! It’s pretty easy to learn the most common greetings in Spanish just throw a ‘buenos días’ or ‘hola’ into the mix and you’re sure to be understood.

What's up what's up