'Wot' is 'what', spelled the way it sounds when someone says it quickly and casually. It is not a different word and it does not mean anything new — the whole point of it is how it looks.

'Wot' is 'what'「Wot」就是「what」，spelled the way it sounds when someone says it quickly and casually照有人講快、講隨便時的音拼出來的。It is not a different word and it does not mean anything new它不是另一個字，也沒有新的意思——the whole point of it is how it looks它的重點就在它看起來的樣子。

Writers use it to show a speaker who is working-class, uneducated, cheeky, or joking: "Wot you looking at?", "Wot's all this then?" You see it in comics, cartoon captions, graffiti, song titles, jokey text messages and online chat. Perhaps its most famous appearance is the old wartime graffiti 'Wot, no bananas?' — a complaint about shortages, later borrowed by the Kilroy cartoon.

Writers use it to show a speaker who is working-class, uneducated, cheeky, or joking作家用它來表現一個工人階級、沒受過教育、皮或愛開玩笑的說話者："Wot you looking at?"「Wot you looking at？看什麼看？」、"Wot's all this then?"「Wot's all this then？這是搞什麼？」You see it in comics, cartoon captions, graffiti, song titles, jokey text messages and online chat你會在漫畫、卡通標題、塗鴉、歌名、搞笑簡訊和網路聊天裡看到它。Perhaps its most famous appearance is the old wartime graffiti 'Wot, no bananas?'它最有名的出現大概是戰時的老塗鴉「Wot, no bananas？沒香蕉了？」——a complaint about shortages抱怨物資短缺，later borrowed by the Kilroy cartoon後來被Kilroy那個塗鴉角色借用。

In writing it very often carries a raised eyebrow: surprise, mockery, or playing dumb on purpose.

In writing在文字裡 it very often carries a raised eyebrow它常常帶著一種挑眉的感覺：surprise, mockery, or playing dumb on purpose驚訝、嘲弄，或故意裝傻。

Two important warnings for students. First, never use it in an essay, an email, an exam, or anything you want taken seriously; it will read as an error, not as style. Second, there is a completely separate old verb 'wot' meaning 'to know' — it survives in the fossil phrase 'God wot' and in old poetry, and you can safely ignore it except as a curiosity.

Two important warnings for students給學生的兩個重要提醒。First首先，never use it in an essay, an email, an exam, or anything you want taken seriously絕對不要用在作文、email、考試，或任何你希望被認真看待的地方；it will read as an error, not as style它會被看成錯誤，而不是風格。Second第二，there is a completely separate old verb 'wot' meaning 'to know'還有一個完全不同、意思是「知道」的古老動詞「wot」——it survives in the fossil phrase 'God wot' and in old poetry它留在化石片語「God wot」和古詩裡，and you can safely ignore it except as a curiosity你可以放心忽略它，把它當成一個小趣聞就好。

Native speakers who write 'wot' are almost never spelling badly by accident; they are choosing the spelling for its voice. When you are learning, it is enough to recognise it and read past it — the meaning is simply 'what'.

Native speakers who write 'wot' are almost never spelling badly by accident寫「wot」的母語者幾乎不是不小心拼錯；they are choosing the spelling for its voice他們是刻意選這個拼法，為了它的語氣。When you are learning在你學習的階段，it is enough to recognise it and read past it認得它、讀過去就好——the meaning is simply 'what'意思就只是「what」。