What are you upto?

Hello folks, what does this phrase mean? How will I respond my answer when soemone asks it in a conversation?

It means "How are you," and you respond with what you have been doing in the past few days, what you are doing presently, or what you will be doing in the near future (next few days).

I thought "what are you up to" means "what are you doing now" or "what plots are you concocting recently".

"What are you up to" is a greeting that fits the description Californian gave above. I'll use it when I call up a friend or run into a friend or acquaintance on the street. It can also be used when greeting someone you haven't seen for a while...in this case it's common to hear "nowadays" or "these days" tacked onto the end.

Example A:

person 1: "Hey, what are you up to?"
person 2: "Nothing much, just watching some tv."

Example B (running into someone you haven't seen for a while):

person 1: "Hey John. I haven't seen you for almost two years. What are you up to these days?"
person 2 (John): "Oh, I've been studying abroad in Europe."

I don't know. I've never heard the phrase used in the way mjd and Californian described. Perhaps they gave the definition of "wah-darr-you-up-to" whereas I gave the definition of "wot-tah-you-rup-to".

Wouldn't it be more of "wot-tah-you-wup-tu"? For me the "wot-tah-you-wup-tu" definition fits.

it's basically like saying what have you been up to, also known as, what have you been doing

Folks, Thanks for your great help.
I had a hard time for understanding this question.
I wrote it to one of my school mates.
He wrote his answer like this, I'd stay around 10.00 pm because of having a hectic schedule of studies. So I'd call you at midnight or tomorow.

Mjd,

Example A:

I guess It means "What's up?"

Example B:

How've you been nowadays?

First time when a native speaker asked me this question on the net and when I replied that I was doing great. He said that he did not ask "How were you doing?" Though he did not tell me the right reply of the question.

It pretty much means "what's up," but it usually involves telling the other person what one is doing.

John: "What are you up to?"
Mary "I'm just doing some laundry."

Example B:

"What're you doing nowadays/these days?" or "How have you been?" (don't add nowadays onto this setence)

If somebody asked me that, I'd reply "I'm not up to anything" and look cagey...

The phrase "up to something" can mean doing something suspicious.

Ex. "That man has been hanging around in the subway station all day. He looks like he's up to something."

Ex. (a child getting into mischief)

Mother: "Just what are you up to over there, young man?"

....sorry for these corny examples, but I think they illustrate what I mean.

The examples I gave in the previous posts were about "what are you up to" as a colloquial greeting. It is a very common American colloquialism (I use it all the time among friends), but I'm not sure if it is used as a greeting in Britain or Australia.

In London, some people say "Azgan" as a greeting, as in "White mate, azgan!".

(disclaimer: this is a joke)