Etymology Journal ยท W
What's your beef?
Meaning
- A demand for someone to explain their grievance or annoyance. It is often used when someone seems angry for reasons that are not immediately clear.
Aggressive, informal
Used in a sentence
- You have been grumbling at me all morning, what's your beef?
- He kept staring at the neighbor's fence, so his wife asked, what's your beef?
- Look, if you have a problem with my management style, tell me, what's your beef?
The backstory
Beef in the sense of a complaint or grudge became slang in the late 19th century. Some speculate it relates to soldiers complaining about rations, but the origin remains a bit of a mystery.
Heard in
Nationwide
Vibe check