wesh

Cultural Note

From Arabic 'wesh' (what/how), this is THE greeting of French street culture. It's simultaneously a greeting ('wesh, ça va?'), an exclamation of surprise ('wesh!'), and a way to get someone's attention ('wesh, viens là'). Made famous by rap and banlieue culture, it's now used ironically by bobos and unironically by teenagers. Warning: using 'wesh' as a middle-aged tourist in Paris will earn you either laughs or concerned looks.