What Does “Updog” Mean? (And Where Did It Come From?)

Download Article

All the slang and word play you need to understand a clever joke

Co-authored by Dan Hickey

Last Updated: April 19, 2025 Fact Checked

Download Article

• What does “updog” mean?
|
• The “Updog” Joke
|
• Is “updog” a real word?
|
• What does “dog” mean in slang?
|
• Where did the joke come from?
|
• Similar Jokes

|Show more |Show less

If you’ve found yourself asking “What’s updog?” out loud, then you might just have been the latest victim of a classic English wordplay joke. In this article, we’ll explain exactly what “updog” means and how the “updog” joke works, plus dive into the history of this play on words and the English slang word “dog.” Read on to learn more!

“Updog” Definition at a Glance

“Updog” is a nonsense word that comes from the English phrase “What’s up, dog?” (meaning “How’s it going, friend?”). The word is part of a common joke: Someone makes a statement with the word “updog,” prompting someone else to ask, “What’s updog?” The first person says “Nothing. What’s up with you?” as the punchline.

Steps

Section 1 of 6:

What does “updog” mean?

Download Article

1. 
   “Updog” is a made-up word used to set up the question “What’s updog?” for a joke.The word “updog” is a play on words and comes from the phrase “What’s up, dog?” (an expression that means “How’s it going, friend?”). To set up the joke, one person will say or ask something using the word “updog.” Someone else will then ask “What’s updog?” in response since it’s not a real word. The jokester usually replies with the punchline “Nothing. What’s up with you?”
Advertisement

Section 2 of 6:

The “Updog” Joke, Explained

Download Article

1. 
   1
   The setup: “Can you pass me the updog?” Find someone to talk to and make a statement or ask a question with the word “updog” in it. The goal is to make the person you’re pranking have to ask you what “updog” is. You can use any phrase you can think of, but if you’re stuck, here are a few setups for inspiration:

   • “It smells like updog in here.”
   • “You look like updog.”
   • “It’s giving updog.”
   • “Did you notice all that updog?”
   • “Will they be serving updog?”
2. 
   2
   The reply: “What’s updog?” Once you ask your question, the other person will be confused because they don’t know what “updog” means. Ideally, they’ll then ask you “What’s updog?” to set up your punchline.

   • Since the other person doesn’t know you’re making a joke, they may not say “What’s updog?” exactly. For example, they could say “What do you mean?” or just “What’s that?”
   • Tip: If they say something like “What’s that?”, ask them “What’s what?” to try to get them to say “What’s updog?” again.
3. 
   3
   The punchline: “Not much. What’s up with you?” Pretend you’re replying to the question “What’s up, dog?” (AKA, “How’s it going, friend?”). Say something short and casual like “Not much,” “Nothing,” or “Can’t complain,” then ask “What’s up with you?” to finish the joke.

   • The other person will realize the play on words you tricked them into and laugh (or maybe groan since this is considered a corny (but classic!) joke).
Advertisement

Section 3 of 6:

Is “updog” a real English word?

Download Article

1. 
   No, “updog” is nonsense that was made up for the "What's updog?" joke. It’s only purpose is to set up the punchline and the word doesn’t have any real meaning outside of the joke. Even though it’s not real English, the “What’s updog?” joke only works in the English language because of the play on the slang phrase “What’s up, dog?” If you were to do this joke in a different language and borrow the word “updog,” it wouldn’t make sense.

Section 4 of 6:

What does “dog” mean in English slang?

Download Article

1. 
   “Dog” or “dawg” is another word for friend, buddy, dude, or pal. Calling someone “Dog” is a familiar way to address somebody you know well. For example, you could say “Hey dog, how’s it going?” or “Long time no see, dog!” when you’re greeting a close friend.

   • “Dog” can be intentionally misspelled as “dawg” or “dogg,” too.
   • Using “dog” to mean “friend” probably came from the hip-hop scene before spreading into wider pop culture as hip-hop music became more mainstream.
Advertisement

Section 5 of 6:

Where did the “updog” joke come from?

Download Article

1. 
   The “updog” joke first appeared online in December of 2000. It’s not totally clear exactly when or how the joke was first conceived (people were probably saying it offline way before 2000). But, the joke made it to the internet on December 6, 2000 in an Ars Technica Forum thread titled “Jokes that make you groan and/or wanna smack your forehead.” Over the next few years, the joke grew more popular online and in TV shows.

   • In 2003, “updog” was added to Urban Dictionary.
   • In 2006, the “updog” joke was featured in an episode of The Office (season 2, episode 13).
   • The cheesy joke became so popular that in 2014, Buzzfeed published a piece called “The 21 Greatest Updogs Of 2014.”

Section 6 of 6:

Similar Jokes

Download Article

1. 
   Use new nonsense words with the “updog” structure for new punchlines. “Updog” is the classic, but people online have gotten creative and come up with other fake words to make all new jokes. Here are a few gems, but feel free to come up with your own variation!

   • Person A: “Can you pass the hamaphor?”
     Person B: “What’s a hamaphor?”
     Person A: “For banging in nails.”
     • A play on the phrase “What’s a hammer for?”
   • Person A: “Can you grab me the henway?”
     Person B: “What’s a henway?”
     Person A: “About 3 or 4 pounds.”
     • A play on the phrase “What does a hen weigh?”
Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!