When did sus become a word?

[Katy]

I know it's short for suspect or suspicious, and I know I've been using it recently.  But I have no idea how it entered the lexicon.

[Tenaj]

I never heard it until my kids started playing the game "Among Us".

[kristin0713]

8 minutes ago, Tenaj said:

I never heard it until my kids started playing the game "Among Us".

Same 

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I've been using it as long as I can remember ie multiple decades.

Only for 'suspicious', though. Never for 'suspect'.

[JustEm]

The popularity of the game Among Us is what brought it into regular use in early 2020.

[TechWife]

I’ve heard it for ages, but with a different meaning. To “sus something out” as in looking into the details or something or an event and figure it out on a micro level. It’s a combination of thinking/researching to me. 

[chocolate-chip chooky]

5 minutes ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

I've been using it as long as I can remember ie multiple decades.

Only for 'suspicious', though. Never for 'suspect'.

PS I've never heard of Among Us

[chocolate-chip chooky]

1 minute ago, TechWife said:

I’ve heard it for ages, but with a different meaning. To “sus something out” as in looking into the details or something or an event and figure it out on a micro level. It’s a combination of thinking/researching to me. 

Yes, this use too!

[LMD]

yeah, Among Us did it!

 

[TechWife]

This is the definition I’m familiar with - I don’t remember seeing  it spelled before, to be honest. It’s something I’d use in conversation, but I wouldn’t use it in writing because my style is a bit more formal.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suss out

suss out

Definition of suss out

British,  informal 

1: to find or discover (something) by thinkingThey had to suss out whether he was telling the truth.I'm trying to suss him out. What kind of person is he?I think I've got him sussed out.

2: to inspect or investigate (something) in order to gain more knowledgeHe carefully sussed out the situation.

[JustEm]

6 minutes ago, TechWife said:

This is the definition I’m familiar with - I don’t remember seeing  it spelled before, to be honest. It’s something I’d use in conversation, but I wouldn’t use it in writing because my style is a bit more formal.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suss out

suss out

Definition of suss out

British,  informal 

1: to find or discover (something) by thinkingThey had to suss out whether he was telling the truth.I'm trying to suss him out. What kind of person is he?I think I've got him sussed out.

2: to inspect or investigate (something) in order to gain more knowledgeHe carefully sussed out the situation.

This definition I've known for years. But what OP is talking about has been made popular by a game in which there are impostors hiding among other crew mates on a ship. They're job is to kill off the crew undetected. The crews job is to vote the impostors off the ship. So, while everyone is discussing who they think the impostors are the term sis gets thrown around a lot. Meaning so and so is suspicious or their actions are suspect

[bookbard]

26 minutes ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

I've been using it as long as I can remember ie multiple decades.

 

Also Australian here, and have used sus as in 'that's a bit sus' (suspicious) forever. However my kids 100% picked it up from Among Us.
We also use "suss" as in "got to suss that out". 

[Katy]

46 minutes ago, TechWife said:

I’ve heard it for ages, but with a different meaning. To “sus something out” as in looking into the details or something or an event and figure it out on a micro level. It’s a combination of thinking/researching to me. 

Okay, we've played Among Us and I completely forgot about it. I probably did get it from that.  But I've long known suss it out too, I just forgot about that one until now.  I've seen people write "sus" quite frequently regarding the Laundrie family, definitely without the third s.

[iamonlyone]

The first time I encountered it was this month in an online article: https://wng.org/roundups/censorship-on-campus-is-kinda-sus-1633979226

I'm in the club who hadn't heard of Among Us either until this thread. I am so out of the loop now that our kids are grown!

[SKL]

It entered my home like this:

Me:  [asking my kids any normal question, like, what homework do you have?]

My kid:  "Your mom."

Me:  What about your grandmother?

My kid:  " ... is sus."

 

Over time it's entered conversations, as in, "that's a little sus."

Now I'm saying it too.

I've also started retorting, "your mom." ... "Oh wait, that's me."

[Amy in NH]

"suss

/səs/

Learn to pronounce

 

informal•British

verb

past tense: sussed; past participle: sussed

1. realize or grasp (something).

   "he's sussed it"

   • discover the true character or nature of.

     "I reckon I've got him sussed"

Origin

1930s: abbreviation of suspect, suspicion."

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=to+suss+out+etymology

[Matryoshka]

3 minutes ago, Amy in NH said:

"suss

/səs/

Learn to pronounce

 

informal•British

verb

past tense: sussed; past participle: sussed

1. realize or grasp (something).

   "he's sussed it"

   • discover the true character or nature of.

     "I reckon I've got him sussed"

Origin

 

1930s: abbreviation of suspect, suspicion."

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=to+suss+out+etymology

Yeah, the verb use with double s is old; it's the recent addition of an adjective form with only one 's' that people are wondering about - a person or situation is 'sus'. 

How long has Among Us been around? I thought I'd been hearing 'sus' used this way for a while already, but only have heard of the game recently (in the last year?)  But that could very well be 'cause I'm old and out of it... 😅

[Amy in NH]

Just now, Matryoshka said:

Yeah, the verb use with double s is old; it's the recent addition of an adjective form with only one 's' that people are wondering about - a person or situation is 'sus'. 

How long has Among Us been around? I thought I'd been hearing 'sus' used this way for a while already, but only have heard of the game recently (in the last year?)  But that could very well be 'cause I'm old and out of it... 😅

I've never heard of "Among Us", so I have no idea what y'all are talking about, and figured OP misspelled the word which has been around for nearly a century.

[sassenach]

3 hours ago, Katy said:

I know it's short for suspect or suspicious, and I know I've been using it recently.  But I have no idea how it entered the lexicon.

Like everything else, it came from the kids. I’ve heard it for at least a year but I think probably more like 2 or 3. It’s hard to keep track. 

[TexasProud]

Never heard this wording before.

[Laura Corin]

It was common in the UK at least from the 1970s. There was a law by which police officers could stop someone on suspicion of a crime. It was known as the 'sus' law.

[TravelingChris]

9 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

The first time I encountered it was this month in an online article: https://wng.org/roundups/censorship-on-campus-is-kinda-sus-1633979226

I'm in the club who hadn't heard of Among Us either until this thread. I am so out of the loop now that our kids are grown!

I have no idea how many times I have encountered mentions of Among Us.  I know I read that article but I was interested in the censorship and didn't care about video games so did not keep it in my conscious memory.

I have never spelled either suss or sus but have used in conversation and have heard it for years. 

[vonfirmath]

11 hours ago, Katy said:

I know it's short for suspect or suspicious, and I know I've been using it recently.  But I have no idea how it entered the lexicon.

It is related to the game AMong us. So after that game became popular.

 

[vonfirmath]

8 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Yeah, the verb use with double s is old; it's the recent addition of an adjective form with only one 's' that people are wondering about - a person or situation is 'sus'. 

How long has Among Us been around? I thought I'd been hearing 'sus' used this way for a while already, but only have heard of the game recently (in the last year?)  But that could very well be 'cause I'm old and out of it... 😅

Since 2018.

 

It is so popular there is music written about it.

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by vonfirmath

[wintermom]

33 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

It was common in the UK at least from the 1970s. There was a law by which police officers could stop someone on suspicion of a crime. It was known as the 'sus' law.

In Canada we now have what could be called the anti-sus law, 😄 where police are not allowed to stop someone only on suspicion. They have to have more concrete cause to stop and question people. 

[JustEm]

31 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Since 2018.

 

It is so popular there is music written about it.

 

But it didn't really get popular until the beginning of the pandemic when streamers started playing it all the time. Prior to that it was not a well known game

[SeaConquest]

Related:

 

[vonfirmath]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

But it didn't really get popular until the beginning of the pandemic when streamers started playing it all the time. Prior to that it was not a well known game

It was popular in our school/house. I would not let my kids play but they talked about it because their classmates were playing even before lockdown.

[SounderChick]

I think it's been around for decades but didn't become ubiquitous until Among US.  Now everything and everyone is sus.