Entry · catalog no. 9458

it's giving

/ /ɪts ˈɡɪvɪn/ /its GIV-in

phrase · New York ballroom / nationwide · 2010s

✓ Verified

A verdict on what something evokes: "it's giving luxury" means it radiates luxury; alone, "it's giving" means it is serving exactly what it should. Clipped from longer ballroom constructions like "it's giving face" and "it's giving body."

“The suit, the watch, the walk — it's giving CEO.”

Origin & Attribution

The Black ballroom scene of New York, where "giving face" and "giving body" were floor commentary decades before the clipped form went viral on Twitter around 2021 and got credited to TikTok. The grammar is ballroom's, by way of shows like Pose and Legendary that carried it to television.

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide

New York ballroom / nationwide · 2010s

Spoken by

Black queer speakers and ballroom first; then Black Twitter; then general

$ITSGIVThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Steady

8 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

82/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

2018

in the culture

Recorded here

2026

point of first record

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

Hear it spoken

By region — how it actually sounds

@auntiereg

Atlanta, GA

@deltasoul

Memphis, TN

Contribute your pronunciation

Citations & Sources

■

Paris Is Burning — documentary · 1990

submitted

■

Pose — television · 2018

submitted

+ Cite a source