Learn English – Is it considered as impolite to say, what’s up when someone asks you to help

phrase-meaningpoliteness

I was in a fashion shop for some clothing, and a man in the same shop suddenly came to ask me if I could help him fill in a short questionnaire.
Because I didn't expect such thing to happen in a fashion shop, I was surprised and said this without thinking:

what's up

Is it impolite to say what's up when someone asks you to help?

Best Answer

No, I don't think it's impolite. For instance:

"Excuse me, can you help me please?"

"Sure - what's up?" - seems like a polite enough way to ask what the problem is, although certainly very informal.

But as a response to someone asking you to fill out a questionnaire, it doesn't seem to make much sense. It seems like your response just needed to be yes or no at this point.