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it's giving

CTL-W-0481 · Work · 2020s

STRONG EVIDENCE evidence grade — master store (canonical CSV)

Combined Graph record U-00881 · provenance: canonical master store (CSV), record CTL-W-0481. Master record source: CTL seed 2026-10-16 — UNVERIFIED, verify before public citation.

Dictionary.com slang explainer (dated June 5, 2026, fetched in full): 'it's giving' is 'used to describe everything from a particularly strong energy to a bold look... can be used with or without an object'; it 'originated in Black and Latine LGBTQ+ ballroom culture... developed in New York City during the 1960s and '70s. The term later expanded to the mainstream on social media around 2020 and 2021... sometimes attributed to influencer Raymond "Rolling Ray" Harper, who said it several times on a 2019 episode of Divorce Court... frequently said on RuPaul's Drag Race.' Supports stored gloss 'it evokes, it radiates' and stored era '2020s' as the mainstreaming date.

Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text

Dictionary.com slang explainer (dated June 5, 2026, fetched in full): 'it's giving' is 'used to describe everything from a particularly strong energy to a bold look... can be used with or without an object'; it 'originated in Black and Latine LGBTQ+ ballroom culture... developed in New York City during the 1960s and '70s. The term later expanded to the mainstream on social media around 2020 and 2021...

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Evidence note (master store)

Dictionary.com slang explainer (dated June 5, 2026, fetched in full): 'it's giving' is 'used to describe everything from a particularly strong energy to a bold look... can be used with or without an object'; it 'originated in Black and Latine LGBTQ+ ballroom culture... developed in New York City during the 1960s and '70s. The term later expanded to the mainstream on social media around 2020 and 2021... sometimes attributed to influencer Raymond "Rolling Ray" Harper, who said it several times on a 2019 episode of Divorce Court... frequently said on RuPaul's Drag Race.' Supports stored gloss 'it evokes, it radiates' and stored era '2020s' as the mainstreaming date.

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Record CTL-W-0481 · Combined Graph record U-00881 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 1 source.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “it's giving (CTL-W-0481),” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0481/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “it's giving (CTL-W-0481).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0481/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). it's giving (CTL-W-0481) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0481/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “it's giving (CTL-W-0481).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0481/

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Jacking up a car on the repair tracks at an Illinois Central Railroad yard, Chicago, Chicago, 1942 — CultureTechLens
Jacking up a car on the repair tracks at an Illinois Central Railroad yard, Chicago, Chicago, 1942 — CultureTechLensPhoto: Jack Delano, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941 — CultureTechLens
Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941 — CultureTechLensPhoto: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Children at the table in a kitchenette apartment, Chicago, 1941 — CultureTechLens
Children at the table in a kitchenette apartment, Chicago, 1941 — CultureTechLensPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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