Entry · catalog no. 2266
the itis
/ — /pending
noun · nationwide · 2026
✓ Verified
1.
The heavy wave of drowsiness that comes after a big, rich meal — the sudden need to sit down and close your eyes once the plate is clean.
“After that plate of oxtails and rice, the itis hit me hard.”
Origin & Attribution
A charged term, flagged for keeper review. It survives as a clipped form of a longer, slur-based coinage that leaned on a racist stereotype of laziness; in everyday Black speech it has been shortened and turned toward its plain, real meaning — the food coma that medicine calls postprandial somnolence. Popularized in this short form by Dave Chappelle's 2004 sketch and later "The Boondocks."
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
nationwide · 2026
Spoken by
nationwide
$THEITIThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising0 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
12/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2026
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
■
"Chappelle's Show" — television · 2004
submitted
■
+ Cite a source"The Boondocks" — television · 2005-2010
submitted
See also