I’ve seen this usage pop up on the intertubes in the past year or two, apparently as a means of indicating skepticism over whether a certain phenomenon is real or genuine. Did it have some particular origin? How do you read it, have you ever used it, and what do you think of it? Will it last?
In short, is this a thing?
Oh yes, “Is this a thing?” is a thing. I have heard it on TV (on “How I Met Your Mother,” maybe) and seen it online (Cracked.com?). I do not think it means “is this real or genuine?” however, more like “is this really something that people say, or talk about?” I think “thing” here is more like “meme” or “fashionable idea” than “object”.
Perhaps I should admit, though, that I am too old and out of touch to know if it is something the kids really say. Maybe, if it is on TV already, they have stopped saying it IRL by now.
I don’t know if there’s a direct connection, but the Letterman show has had an occasional bit called “Is This Anything?” for several years, at least. They raise a curtain to reveal some kind of novelty act, a guy juggling on a unicycle or something, and then ponder its significance.
For me, “is this a thing” means “is this a trend/meme/something of that nature that is somewhat widespread or is it just peculiar to this person or a very small group of individuals.” For example, somehow, I missed the whole planking meme. When I first saw it on The Office, I wondered to myself “is this a thing, or just something made up for the show parodying the ridiculousness of Internet memes.” Unfortunately, it was, indeed, a thing.
I tend to use it in the negative: “that’s not even a thing!”
I first heard it on “Seinfeld” re-runs* phrased as, “Is that even a thing?”
*I didn’t watch it when it first aired.
Sent from my TRS-80 via Compuserve
I use the term. I’m a totally un-hip 41 year old woman for what that’s worth.
I googled “is this a thing” (with quotation marks). Looking at the first page of results, most of them more clearly fit into the “does this thing exist?” category than the “is this a trend?” category. If someone is more determined (or less lazy) than I, feel free to analyze more results. I’ll try to categorize them:
Why is this a thing? (A blog featuring questionable inventions.) Existence
Is this a thing? Men’s Pantie Stocking (NSFW). (Questions if the manufacturer of the pictured item exists.) Existence
Why is this a thing? (Strange picture in a video game.) Existence
Is this a thing? Is a brain dvr – a thing yet? I want one so bad! Existence
Dual memory cards - is this a thing yet? So my question is, does this exist in any modern dSLR…? Existence
Post-Game Thread: Is This A Thing? (I can’t figure out what this one is questioning.) Unknown
Why is this a thing?! Just… why?! (Video about Magic Pony genitals. I can’t figure this out either.) Unknown
Is This a Thing? I know this is a weird question to ask. But I want to know if a gate set-up like what I am about to show you is a thing in real life. (Wants to know if a gate set up has ever been used in a battle.) Existence
Bipolar Editing Disorder – Is This A Thing? It Should Be. Existence
First was Planking, is this a thing now? (Humorous picture captions.) Trend
I use it to say “is this an issue? Is it important enough, really, to even be discussing?”
I sometimes say it.
Also on Family Guy. The only instance I remember was when Brian was showing Stewie the 2girls1cup video. At first Stewie was grossed out, then he wondered if two guys could do that. “Is that even a thing?”
Here’s urbandictionary.com’s take on “a thing”:
The other definitions for “a thing” are the romantic sense of it, as in having a thing for someone.
I should add that of course it could be used to ask about existence; it’s all about context. When I use it, it’s obvious that the item exists and I am asking whether it’s, as the urbandictionary definition puts it, a “recognized subsection of popular culture.”
Bill Hader’s fantastic SNL character “Stefon” starts some of his club descriptions with “You know that thing where…” followed by something completely off the wall that nobody in the world has ever heard of.
The usage must go back at least decades. In the 60s there was a ‘do your own thing’ concept that has that meaning. The ‘thing’ it refers to is traditional conformist activity, and heralded a rise of individualism. But humans being what they are, lots of individuals ended up doing the same ‘thing’. As social interaction has grown with the media, social ‘things’ have risen, and the natural phrasing of a question regarding them would be ‘is that a thing?’
I use it.
It’s shorthand for saying “I’m an old fogey and do not know what is ‘cool.’ I am bewildered by what I’m seeing or hearing. However, I do remember that in the distant past, I participated in fads, wore clothing, or used slang that bewildered my elders and this reminds me of that. So, young whippersnapper, please tell me whether this is what the kids are doing these days or if it is actually strange.”
Don’t know where I picked it up, but a I grow even older and farther away from what’s trendy, it’s a very useful phrase.
I’m not really sure if that counts. I suppose the thinginess of “do your own thing” and “is that a thing” are similar, but it feels like a stretch.
Back in the 1880s or so, thing was an insult. As in “You’re a thing.”
Seems to me it’s used in the same sense as “there’s no suich thing as x” or its negation “there is such a thing as x” which would be synonymous with “x is a thing”
There is also “How is this still a thing?” or John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight show. My favorite segment was about Ayn Rand.
IMO the best spin-off of E!'s The Soup, namely G4’s Web Soup hosted by Chris Hardwick used to have a segment specifically called “Is that Even a Thing?!”. It was used to show web videos that were both odd and had a sexual fetish theme.
It is what it is.