Welp.

Anyone who has read a blog or a Facebook post has probably seen the word "Welp." There are still a few people who don't know what it means, so let me expound.

First things first: The word is not "whelp." Whelp refers to birthing puppies. This generally has nothing to do with puppies, unless your intent is to post the following announcement: "Whelp, the neighbor's unspayed dog just gave birth to another litter of puppies under our porch." In that case, I suppose "whelp" would get a pass.

But it's actually "Welp." Great, so what does it mean?

Let's start with an example of a conversation with some words nearly everyone is familiar with.

You: Are you going back to work today?
Me:  No.

Contrast that with:

You:   Are you going back to work today?
Me:    Nope.

"No," in the first instance, could possibly be interpreted as "No, I'm sorry, I know you'd like me to but I'd really prefer not to, and I'll gladly explain why -- but I suppose you could still talk me into going if you're extra-persuasive..." In other words, it's all open for discussion.

But with "Nope," there's that consonant at the end -- it shuts my mouth on the word, making it kind of an open-and-shut conversation. It's "No, and that's the end of the discussion. Too bad if you don't like it. I feel very strongly about this." That one consonant says quite a bit, doesn't it?

As a side note, you see how I capitalized the two versions of "No." They are meant to begin a sentence, and end it as well. It's a one-word response. But "No" almost feels like it ends with a comma, while "Nope" generally calls to mind a decisive period at the end of the sentence. Maybe even an exclamation point.

Just as there's a difference between "No" and "Nope," there's a major difference between "Well" and "Welp." 

Here's another conversation:

Me:     Well, the electric company just shut off my power for non-payment again.
You:    Oh, no! Bless your heart! Want to come over to my place so you don't have to freeze in the dark? I've got extra blankets! I'll get you some McDonald's gift cards so you don't have to go hungry when all the food in your fridge goes bad. Maybe you could start a GoFundMe account and we'll all chip in and try to get your lights back on for another month...

Compare it to this:

Me:     Welp, the electric company just shut off my power for non-payment again.
You:    Those bastards! I'll call NewsChannel 9 for you and the whole town will know that those greedy sumbitches are heartlessly leaving you in the freezing dark. Let's go down there with signs and picket their offices!

"Well" is a little on the easygoing side. When I say the power company cut me off, you can almost read a sad little "sigh" of helplessness at the end of the sentence. The person saying "Well" is just making an announcement, and the person they're talking to can take it that way, or react mildly or sympathetically. Making an announcement that starts with "Well" ("Well, I just got short-listed for a Nobel Prize" sounds like an understatement of false modesty, doesn't it?) is meant to convey that you don't care that much about what you're announcing. 

But "Welp" puts a lot of emphasis -- usually angry emphasis -- on the announcement to come. It makes people pay closer attention. It pumps people up and alerts them that something unacceptable is happening and they have an opportunity to stand up and DO something about it. Or at least get hopping mad and maybe let other people know about it. 

So next time you're on Facebook or Twitter and someone launches a post with "Welp..." sit up and take notice. You may be able to get in on changing the world for the better.