What

What is such a versatile word. Even just pairing it with a punctuation mark can change the meaning. For instance ‘what?’ can mean ‘pardon me, what did you say’. It could also mean to say, ‘what do you mean?’. If we add an exclamation mark, as in, ‘what!?’ it then means all other meanings but with disbelief attached. I say, XX won the election, you say ‘what!!!!?’ Yes, quite a versatile word.

The word ‘what’ is used in a host of ways. For instance we can say, ‘what time is it?’ and also say the time is what it is, what goes around comes around,  what is your excuse, the list goes on. One that is kind of fun is the related word ‘whatever’ which is meant to mean it does not matter. Even that variation has a different meaning when spoken as, ‘whatever you say’ meaning I will do as you wish.

The ‘what’ of a statement can refer to a thought, as in, ‘what was I thinking?’. It can also be an equivalent to the word ‘which’, whether bad grammar or not, some people say, ‘what one?’ vs ‘which one?’. To say ‘what is it?’ is like saying ‘which is it?’. What little I know about the many uses of the word ‘what’. In this case ‘what’ refers to the sum of my knowledge on the use of the word.

When I asked a roomful of writers to define the word ‘what’, I got nervous laughter. It is a kind of floatie word, in that it seems to be floating around in all kinds of ways. It can refer to quantity as in what amount or what level of… or. It can be a kind of filler to make things feel more gentle and conversational, as an invitation to add to an opinion, ‘looks like, oh, what, 23 or so?’. ‘What’ seems to be a chameleon word.

What there is has been wonderful. The ‘what’ in that statement refers to all that there is. So ‘what’ can mean all. I do wonder how we evolved this word. What was it that gave what such range? The what of it, to me, is that I am a what user, addicted, what, every day? What I also admit is that I really do not give it what ‘what’ is due. What say you?