qué lo que

What it means

1. 1.

   What's up? The default Dominican greeting, used between friends, between strangers of similar age, and shouted across a street. It expects either the same phrase back or 'tranquilo'.

2. 2.

   What's going on here? — the same words asked with real curiosity about a situation rather than as a hello.

   Tone alone separates the two; the greeting is flat and quick, the question rises.

Examples with translations

• ¿Qué lo que, loco? ¿Tú ta' bien?

  What's up, man? You good?

• Klk, dime a ver.

  What's up, talk to me.

  Note: Written form. KLK is now so standard in messaging that it appears on shop signs and in advertising.

• ¿Y qué lo que con esa bulla?

  And what's with all that noise?

  Note: The literal question rather than the greeting.

Where it comes from

A reduction of '¿qué es lo que hay?' — 'what is there?'. The copula drops, the final /s/ of 'es' aspirates away, and what remains is four syllables. The written abbreviation KLK spread through SMS and BlackBerry Messenger in the late 2000s and is now the more common written form.

First attested: late 20th century

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

klk, qué lo que e'

Similar terms:

dímelo, qué e' lo que e'