Katy Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I never heard it until my kids started playing the game "Among Us". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 8 minutes ago, Tenaj said: I never heard it until my kids started playing the game "Among Us". Same 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I've been using it as long as I can remember ie multiple decades. Only for 'suspicious', though. Never for 'suspect'. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 The popularity of the game Among Us is what brought it into regular use in early 2020. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 yeah, Among Us did it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookbard Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamonlyone Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 "suss /səs/ Learn to pronounce informal•British verb past tense: sussed; past participle: sussed 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, Amy in NH said: "suss /səs/ Learn to pronounce informal•British verb past tense: sussed; past participle: sussed 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... 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasProud Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Never heard this wording before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Related: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I think it's been around for decades but didn't become ubiquitous until Among US. Now everything and everyone is sus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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