# British English: What Does "Wotcher" Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800 "2005-07-16T15:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/1 "2005-07-16T15:26:25Z")
I’ve seen this word used in the _Harry Potter_ books from time to time. It seems to be used as a greeting, or at least an announcement of one’s presence. For example, Tonks will notice Harry and say, “Wotcher, Harry, blah blah blah…” What does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/2 "2005-07-16T15:57:51Z")
Translated into Canadian: “Howsitgoin, eh?” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/3 "2005-07-16T16:05:09Z")
Wotcher up to? Or translated into L.A.-ian: 'Sup? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/4 "2005-07-16T16:42:13Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Wotcher up to? > > Or translated into L.A.-ian: 'Sup? Yo! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/5 "2005-07-16T17:19:53Z")
I’ve seen it spelt “whotcha” as in “what are you up to” ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/6 "2005-07-16T18:36:18Z")
Never seen it spelt like that before. Normally it’s “whatcha”. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/7 "2005-07-16T19:49:08Z")
From a HP fan site: [http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/strictly\_british1.html#W](http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/strictly_british1.html#W) > [@](#): > > “Wotcher!” > A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!” Also spelled “Wotcha”. [Mainly London use] And from this site: [http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin\_board/22/messages/666.html](http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/22/messages/666.html) > [@](#): > > what cheer! In C.20 often rendered _watcher_ or _wotcher_, and thought of as mainly Cockney, it is a greeting going back early C.18, if not earlier. James Isham uses it in _Observations and Notes_, 1743 (Hudson’s Bay Record Soc., XII, 54: Leechman). _EDD_ notes it as Yorkshire dial., ca. 1860. ‘The universal greeting of labourers and countrymen’ (David Garnett, _New Statesman & Nation_, 20 Feb. 1937). P.B.: but Garnett’s remark is a generalisation, and certainly not true of, e.g., that large stretch of the East Midlands where _Ey-oop!_ is the popular greeting. > From _A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 8th ed._ (1984) by Eric Partridge & Paul Beale ---
**Author:** ![Longgrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Longgrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longgrain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/8 "2005-07-16T22:31:46Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Wotcher up to? > > Or translated into L.A.-ian: 'Sup? Here in New England it’s “Hey!” Or sometimes “Hey! Howyadoing.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/9 "2005-07-16T23:19:51Z")
> [@Longgrain](#): > > Here in New England it’s “Hey!” > > Or sometimes “Hey! Howyadoing.” I’m not ‘ghetto’, but when you’re around it for so long you tend to pick up some of the patois. Sometimes it was: Hey, 'sup? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/10 "2005-07-17T00:17:39Z")
‘A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!”’ That’s got to come from the Dick Van Dyke book of etymology. ‘What’cha up to’ is the far more plausible option. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/11 "2005-07-17T06:41:38Z")
Down here we (or rather I) just say ‘howdy’. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/12 "2005-07-17T09:14:09Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!”’ > > That’s got to come from the Dick Van Dyke book of etymology. > > ‘What’cha up to’ is the far more plausible option. No, “what cheer” is quite correct. It’s been around a looong time. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/13 "2005-07-17T12:31:28Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!”’ > > That’s got to come from the Dick Van Dyke book of etymology. > > ‘What’cha up to’ is the far more plausible option. Um, no. See my second cite above. The expression is at least **300 years old**. There are written instances of it as far back as 1743. It’s not some slang that came out in the past 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/14 "2005-07-17T18:30:44Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!”’ > > That’s got to come from the Dick Van Dyke book of etymology. > > ‘What’cha up to’ is the far more plausible option. Agreed. I’m not sure why the term’s age means that it must be the ‘cheer’ version. Either is possible, but ‘what’cha up to’ sounds more natural because ‘cheer’ does not have a ‘cha’ sound. (In case anyone is unaware, the final consonant of ‘what’ and the initial consonant of ‘you’ usually mix into a ‘ch’ sound in spoken Southern British English. I presume everyone understands that, but just in case, you know!) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/15 "2005-07-17T18:43:35Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > It’s not some slang that came out in the past 20 years. Did I say it was? The cites suggested so far don’t give any concrete evidence for anything other than it being a fairly old expression. Which doesn’t prove any etymology. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/16 "2005-07-17T18:59:28Z")
> [@Axel](#): > > Agreed. I’m not sure why the term’s age means that it must be the ‘cheer’ version. Either is possible, but ‘what’cha up to’ sounds more natural because ‘cheer’ does not have a ‘cha’ sound. > > (In case anyone is unaware, the final consonant of ‘what’ and the initial consonant of ‘you’ usually mix into a ‘ch’ sound in spoken Southern British English. I presume everyone understands that, but just in case, you know!) How about a cite that the expression “What are you up to?” was used 300 years ago? Sounds very unlikely to me - that’s would seem to be a modern expression, unlike “What cheer.” I can’t recall seeing “What are you up to,” or anything similar, in Defoe, Dickens, or any other pre-20th century author. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/17 "2005-07-17T19:02:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How about a cite that the expression “What are you up to?” was used 300 years ago? Sounds very unlikely to me - that’s would seem to be a modern expression, unlike “What cheer.” Sorry, but that doesn’t make sense. Just because something sounds old-fashioned to us doesn’t necessarily make it older than something which sounds normal. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/18 "2005-07-17T19:09:30Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Sorry, but that doesn’t make sense. Just because something sounds old-fashioned to us doesn’t necessarily make it older than something which sounds normal. No, I’ve read lots of Dickens and other pre-20th century literature. It’s not just that it sounds wrong, I can’t recall any instances. If you have any, please provide them. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/19 "2005-07-17T20:42:13Z")
“Wotcha!” was invented by Lofty Holloway in Eastenders, circa 1985. “Wotcha 'Shell!” Well, that’s when I first heard it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800/20 "2005-07-17T21:04:51Z")
> [@Axel](#): > > Agreed. I’m not sure why the term’s age means that it must be the ‘cheer’ version. Either is possible, but ‘what’cha up to’ sounds more natural because ‘cheer’ does not have a ‘cha’ sound. > > (In case anyone is unaware, the final consonant of ‘what’ and the initial consonant of ‘you’ usually mix into a ‘ch’ sound in spoken Southern British English. I presume everyone understands that, but just in case, you know!) I’m not sure how this is relevant at all, since the expression under discussion in the OP is “wotcher,” not “wha’cha.” If anything, it is an argument against a derivation of “wotcher” from an expression beginning with “what you.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-english-what-does-wotcher-mean/312800.md?page=2)