| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
| what-if |
plan, theory, hypothesis
|
We did a what-if on the computer to see when the world will die from pollution.
|
| what in tarnation |
what is this? what the hell [B]
|
What in tarnation? Where did you get that dinosaur?
|
| what in the name of heaven |
what is that? what's going on
|
You built a gazebo? What in the name of heaven is that?
|
| what in the world |
what is happening, what is it?
|
What in the world is that? It looks like a space ship!
|
| what it boils down to |
what it really means, the bottom line
|
What it boils down to is this: we don't have enough money.
|
| what the dickens |
where did it go? how do you explain it?
|
What the dickens did you do to your hair? Who cut it off?
|
| what the hay |
who cares? why worry?
|
The hood blew off my car, but what the hay - who needs a hood?
|
| what the heck |
why bother? it does not matter
|
Bing and Ko are getting married. What the heck! I don't care.
|
| what the hell [B] |
why? how? what the heck
|
What the hell is he doing with my diary? Where did he get it?
|
| what the Sam Hill |
what happened, what the hell, what is it?
|
What the Sam Hill did you do to my bike? The gears won't shift.
|
| Sam Hill is considered to be a soft replacement for hell or damn.
|