"What have you"

Question

What does "what have you" mean?Thanks.

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

whatever ...
any unspecified stuff ...
I don't know what ...

Yh2665_hous · Answer

Thanks.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

In general, I agree with what has been said. However, more specifically, I see 'what have you' as a form of 'what(ever) you have', meaning 'whatever you have in mind, whatever you can think of'.

eg At the circus, there were lions, gorillas, clowns, jugglers, and what have you'.

In this example, I don't think I'd say 'what have you' to someone who had no knowledge of a circus, because I'd know that they couldn't think of anything else that might be there.

In a sense, it's a shorthand way, perhaps even a lazy way, of asking the listener to finish my sentence for me in his mind.

The phrase seems similar to the more modern, more slang-y and more irritating 'Whatever . . .'

Best wishes, Clive

"What have you"

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