I noticed the phrase “What gives?” in the following lines of the article of Washington Post (August 29) article, titled “Is Ron Paul being ignored?”

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> “And yet talk to almost anyone in politics — Republicans or Democrats — and the idea of Ron Paul as a top-tier candidate for president is greeted with either a laugh or an eye roll (or both.)
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> *What gives?*
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> Paul appears to be suffering from the “once bitten, twice shy” tendency of the media.”
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It appears to me “What gives?” is a common and frequently-used phrase, but I don’t think I’ve seen this phrase so often in written English format like newspaper articles, much less in English textbooks we use.
Does it mean “for what (reason)?” or "What is its implication?" What is the spelt-out format of “What gives?”
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*What gives?* [means](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/What+Gives%3f):

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> Inf. What happened?; What went wrong?; What's the problem?
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> Bill: Hi, you guys. What gives? Bob: Nothing, just a little misunderstanding. Tom's a little angry.
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> Bob: Where's my wallet? What gives?
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> Tom: I think one of those roughnecks who just walked by us has borrowed it for a little while.
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According to this page on the [linguistics of the phrase](http://ling.ucsc.edu/Jorge/joseph.html), it is not short for anything. There are a few theories about how it arose:

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> Regarding the issue of why *what gives* is anomalous, the best that I can offer (speaking now as an historical linguist) is to suggest that we turn to the history of the construction, but even there, full enlightenment is not forthcoming (see Joseph 2000 for more detailed discussion). The construction seems clearly to have originated in American English; the first attestation for what gives comes in 1940, in John O'Hara's Pal Joey, according to Wentworth and Flexner (1960: 574, s.v. what gives) and the Oxford English Dictionary (1989 on-line second edition).
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> Even with this late attestation, what gives makes for an interesting comparison with the German existential use of *geben* 'to give', in the impersonal form with an expletive subject, *es gibt*, as in *Es gibt keinen Gott* 'There is no god', itself anomalous from the point of view of the usual syntax and meaning of *geben*...
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> Some scholars however see what gives as having arisen via language contact, as a calque from German, an origin for it which would eliminate a basis for a Proto-West-Germanic prototype, but might allow for a different explanation for the anomalies this expression shows; that is, under such a view, it would show an anomaly because it is a borrowing in the same way that an expression like It goes without saying, calqued from French *Ça va sans dire*, does, with its unusual passive-like voice semantics for an active form of say. In particular, it has been suggested (Chapman (1986: 463, s.v.); see also Wentworth and Flexner ibid.) that what gives is a loan translation from German or Yiddish was *gibt* 'What's going on?'.
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The site itself has an even more thorough explanation of the phrase. However, it is a phrase on its own, rather than an abbreviation of another phrase. It means "What's happening?" or "What's up?" It is usually informal, though, so you would not see this in formal writing. You can use it in conversation with others, and they will understand you. However, the tone is slightly negative, so be careful when you choose to use it.
Leo Rosten, *The Joys of Yinglish* (1989) claims "What gives" as a characteristic element of what he calls "Yinglish" (hybridized English/Yiddish or Yiddish-inflected English):

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> **What gives?**
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> This is a stellar addition to the colloquial phrases of conversational Yinglish. From Yiddish: *Vi geyt's*?" "How goes it?" Via German: *Was gibt*?
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> 1. What's going on there?
> 2. What's new?
> 3. What's the matter? What's wrong?
> 4. Tell me the whole story.
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As the multiple definitions in Rosten's account indicate, people use "What gives?" can be used in a number of distinct senses. But the most common ones in my experience are "What's going on?" (asked curiously or querulously) and "What's wrong?" (asked sympathetically).

According to Christine Ammer, *The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms* (1997), "what gives" can also mean "how are you":

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> The last variant [of "what's cooking"], **what gives**, may derive from the German equivalent, *Was gibt's?* Slang from about 1940, it is also used to mean, "how are you," as in *Hello, Jack—what gives?*
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As simchona's answer indicates, Harold Wentworth & Stuart Flexner have a detailed entry for "What gives?" in *Dictionary of American Slang*, first edition (1960):

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> **What gives?** **1** A common greeting. **2** "What's happening?" "What did I do to make you say or do that?" [Cross reference omitted.] 3 = **What's new?** *Perhaps a lit. translation of the Ger. "was ist los?"* **1939:** "What gives, I asked her...." O'Hara, *Pal Joey*, 43. **1949:** "What gives?' he croaked in an annoyed tone." Chandler, *Little Sister*, 21.
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The instance from John O'Hara's *Pal Joey* appeared under the title "[Joey and the Calcutta Club](https://books.google.com/books?id=BzYdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22what+gives,+I+asked+her%22&dq=%22what+gives,+I+asked+her%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPlPHy2tDOAhVI9WMKHRMAC4gQ6AEIUjAJ)" in *The New Yorker* (March 30, 1940) [combined snippets]:

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> So Quinn asked me to join them and I did and this mouse with them named Jean Benedict looks like 10000 other dames on the line of some Bway show except when she opens her trap she has an accent that is so British even Sir Nevile Chamberlin would not be able to understand her. I knew she was strictly U.S.A. by appearance but the accent is so good I think what is the angle. **What gives**, I asked her, altho not in so many words. I inquired how she happen to have the accent and she said a lot of people inquire of her the same thing and it is easily explained. She is half American and her father is British.
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And from Raymond Chandler's [*The Little Sister*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YaaU052RltUC&pg=PA244&dq=%22what+gives?+he+croaked%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0woKr3dDOAhVW92MKHaPADcQQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%22what%20gives%3F%20he%20croaked%22&f=false) (1949):

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> He made a grab for the glass [of gin, freshly poured by Marlowe]. I put it on the table in front of him. He grasped it carefully in both hands and poured the gin into his face. Then he laughed heartily and threw the glass at me. I managed to catch it and up-end it on the table again. The man looked me over with a studied but unsuccessful attempt at sternness. 
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> "**What gives**?" he croaked in an annoyed tone. 
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> "Manager?" 
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> He nodded and almost fell off the couch. "Must be I'm drunky," he said. "Kind of a bit of a little bit drunky."
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> "You're not bad," I said. "You're still breathing."
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Somewhat surprisingly, the earliest match that a separate Google Books search finds for the expression is from Elizabeth Kata, [*Be Ready with Bells & Drums*](https://books.google.com/books?id=lAAfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22what+gives%22&dq=%22what+gives%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7i6uA4NDOAhUU22MKHRTQDmo4ChDoAQgiMAI) (1961):

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> "Is that you. Paul?" Gordon asked.
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> 'But of course. Excuse me for asking, Dad, but **what gives**? **What gives** out there with Orphan Annie, with little Eva. With your—friend—so I'm told. You care to tell me **what gives**, Dad? Honoured older brother, you mind telling me about this friend of yours?'
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> ...
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> 'It's nice to know you care. I'm glad you love me, Dad.' I heard them laughing together. It was fine to hear brothers laughing together. Paul went on speaking. 
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> 'You're evading the issue—I don't like any issue being evaded. **What gives** with li'l Eva? Who, what, when, where, and for Pete's sake, why? Why?'
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In this dialogue, "Dad" appears to be beatnik talk for "friend" or "pal." Kata was an Australian novelist, not an American; but the usage of "what gives" in this excerpt mirrors U.S. usage.