Often American visitors to the north of England are very confused when they are constantly asked 'Alright?' or 'you alright, mate?' - one got very paranoid aski

Often American visitors to the north of England are very confused when they are constantly asked 'Alright?' or 'you alright, mate?' - one got very paranoid asking me (because I've been in US for 20 year and I am bilingual American/British!!) wtf was obviously wrong with him causing the concern. I explained it means, essentially, what's up. If you bumped into a pal and said 'sup and he then went on to explain his day at length that would be weird, right? American and English, it's almost the same language.