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I saw a tweet:

People who joined Facebook after 2017 are sus.

What does this word "sus" mean in this sentence?

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AGamePlayer
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3 Answers3

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As CharybdeBE noted above, it's a slang term which has become popular thanks to the Among Us game, a multiplayer game where one or more of the characters are secretly evil aliens trying to kill all the other players. A large part of the gameplay involves accusing other players of being an alien, which is often done by calling them "sus".

This is a pretty good explanation:

https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/21/21449498/among-us-fans-pretty-sus-meme-explained

Whether it's directly descended from the older term "suss", or if it naturally evolved independently is a good question! Personally, I'd guess it evolved independently, but I've not attempted to do any research into it, so that guess may well be... sus.

Still, I wouldn't be too surprised to find there's a student thesis or academic paper floating around which attempts to answer that question, though!

Juice
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  • Imposter, not alien. – Steve Melnikoff Feb 08 '22 at 16:47
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    @steve yeah this is a bit sus... – Cullub Feb 08 '22 at 17:08
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    I thought the imposters were aliens (disguised as crew members), in the game lore. Then again I've never played it so I can't be sure. – David Z Feb 08 '22 at 17:28
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    They're impostors, not impostErs. So what you're saying sounds very sus, too :)

    Anyhow, while most of the kill animations could be done by a human or android, not even Gene Simmons has a tongue long enough to stab through someone's head, nor is his tongue located in his belly...

    (Kill animations can be viewed here: https://among-us.fandom.com/wiki/Kill)

    So, yeah. Slightly sus, but still valid explanation!

     – Juice Feb 08 '22 at 18:39
  • Thanks for the following up information! – AGamePlayer Feb 09 '22 at 03:06
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    As someone who fell into playing AmongUs very early: I would say that even if people who knew the older definition brought "sus" into AmongUs, the meaning did evolve in the context of the game, because it wasn't in the active vocabulary of most players. And I'd say that the current general usage probably derives from the meaning in AmongUs. Which would mean that we do have to differentiate between a "pre-AmongUs meaning" and a "post-AmongUs meaning" here. – orithena Feb 09 '22 at 12:23
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    I think the Among Us demographic guarantees that this "sus" indeed was an independent derivation from the older "suss", complete with different connotations and usage. – Lawnmower Man Feb 10 '22 at 02:06
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This is a slang term used primarily by members of "Generation Z" (currently aged 10–25) to mean "suspicious" but also "dubious", "strange", "creepy", or "socially unacceptable" (in the sense that a "creepy person" is socially unacceptable).

In this sentence, it is saying that anyone who joined Facebook in the year 2017 or afterwards is creepy or socially unacceptable.

lly
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Richard Winters
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  • I may be thinking wrong, but doesn't "after 2017" mean 2017~present? – Skye-AT Feb 08 '22 at 04:45
  • You are correct. I'll edit my answer to make that clearer. – Richard Winters Feb 08 '22 at 06:26
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    It's a lot older than Gen-Z (who, of course, think that they invented everything). When I was a UK hippie around 1968 to the early 1970s, we used it as an adjective and a verb. It was usually written 'suss'. If something was a bit suss, it was a bit suspicious, strange, etc, and if you 'sussed' something you suspected it, and to 'suss out' a mystery, puzzle, obscure thing, etc, meant to puzzle it out, solve it, etc. I have the feeling it came from Cockney or police slang. Still in fairly common use today among 'normals' (people who aren't or weren't hippies or beatniks). Common in Australia. – Michael Harvey Feb 08 '22 at 10:00
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    ''Suss'' is a very old slang word and was definitely not invented by gen z – Hollis Williams Feb 08 '22 at 13:17
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    I think the growing popularity of sus across the Gen Z is due to Among Us (ive never saw it widely used before that game [but im not native speaker]) – CharybdeBE Feb 08 '22 at 13:21
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    I agree with the definition you've provided, but I always interpreted it to be an abbreviation of suspect, not suspicious. 'Suspect' (as an adjective) has the stress on the first syllable so is pronounced the same as 'sus'. – dbmag9 Feb 08 '22 at 14:32
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    @dbmag9 in the UK, an older use came from "suspected" in the so-called Sus Law permitting stop & search of any person suspected of being a vagrant or vagabond, despite the stress there falling on the second syllable. In the case of Among Us, which is certainly responsible for its recent rise in popularity, I think the majority would say it was short for suspicious, as the usage matches it more closely – Tristan Feb 08 '22 at 16:50
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    When I was at school (UK) in the 1980s, “Sus!!” was used to taunt kids who had been caught out, embarrassed, or received poetic justice in some way. (I was told that this usage derived from the ‘suspicious’ meaning, though I've never understood how…) – gidds Feb 08 '22 at 19:47
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    I have heard "suss" as a verb since at least the 1970s, but I have heard/seen "sus" as an adjective only recently (2015+). – shoover Feb 09 '22 at 04:54
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    @shoover I remember both verb and adjective, both spelled 'suss', from at least 1968. I have also recalled that 'suss' can be a noun (savvy, knowhow, worldly wisdom, the quality of being canny, etc) 'she has plenty of suss' - this is on p 426 of Tony Thorne's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, also that an adjective 'sussed' means 'having plenty of suss' - she's a well sussed person'. – Michael Harvey Feb 09 '22 at 13:13
  • @dbmag9 - in certain UK regional speech forms , 'suspicious' has accent on the first syllable. – Michael Harvey Feb 09 '22 at 13:15
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    In truth, I think this explanation isn't quite right.

    "Sus" in the modern context is most likely from the video game Among Us, and is meant to indicate that the person in question is an impostor/alien. And this form of accusation has become something of a meme/joke. So when it's being used outside the game-context, I tend to think it's more likely to be a joke about the person in question being "wierd", rather than something with more negative connotations (e.g. "dubious"). Still, that's the joy of slang - it rarely comes with a formal definition!

     – Juice Feb 09 '22 at 13:30
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    @Juice I've never played Among Us, or associated with people who have, and I'm pretty confident I have used and understood 'sus' prior to the game's existence. It certainly seems to have popularised the term and perhaps changed its meaning, but it definitely isn't the origin. – dbmag9 Feb 09 '22 at 14:59
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    @dbmag9: did you use "suss" or "sus"? The Oxford dictionary lists "suss" as British slang with multiple meanings depending on the context. And as a Brit, I have used it in the past, albeit primarily as a verb. E.g. "You sussed it yet?". Conversely, Among Us was produced by an American company, and I'm guessing it had a primarily US audience, at least while it was initially growing. And "sus" is primarily - if not exclusively - used to mean "suspicious". Overall, I'm on the fence as to whether "sus" evolved from "suss", or whether it was a separate but parallel evolution... – Juice Feb 09 '22 at 16:38
  • @dbmag9 Since suspicious has the stress on the second syllable, how do you think an abbreviation of it to sus would be pronounced? I don't think there are any English words where the only vowel is [ə]. (Of course some clever person will think of an obscure example now!) – CJ Dennis Feb 10 '22 at 00:02
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    Personally, I think "sus" from Among Us is a totally different word than "suss" (though obviously ultimately related) – Hello Goodbye Feb 10 '22 at 01:48
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    @HelloGoodbye You're not wrong. It's not at all the same as the boomer term (although, of course, they think they knew or invented everything). – lly Feb 10 '22 at 07:31
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    "Sus" as a synonym for "suspicious, dubious, weird, creepy" was in use in the US in the early 2000s as well; another equally slangy synonym would be "sketch." – Katy Feb 10 '22 at 07:35
  • Michael Harvey covers most of it and there's more… Back in the day, "To suss (whatever)…" could equally mean "to mistrust…" or, rather oddly, "to understand…" Still in the citation, "sus" means something like "suspicious", even if only in the sense of being somehow less worthy… – Robbie Goodwin Feb 10 '22 at 20:44
  • As somebody who's been on the internet pretty constantly since the mid-90s and has "suss" (almost always in the phrase "suss out") as part of my normal vocabulary, I can say confidently that "sus" is a very recent development, which I first saw in the context of Among Us (as in, "Red is pretty sus TBH.") and only afterward became a common slang term on Twitter and the rest of the internet. The term may have existed prior in some areas, but I'm pretty sure "sus" in the current net usage is an independent evolution from the same source rather than a broadening of a previously niche term. – Darth Pseudonym Feb 10 '22 at 20:44
  • @dbmag9 Can you explain a useful difference between "suspect" and "suspicious"? – Robbie Goodwin Feb 14 '22 at 21:24
  • @Darth Pseudonym Can you explain where the rules came from that allowed you to make a difference between "suss" and "sus"? For myself, it's always "suss" and how does anyone come to believe "sus" suggests something separate… or even exists, except as a simple spelling choice (or mistake)? – Robbie Goodwin Feb 14 '22 at 21:31
  • @RobbieGoodwin The phrase "pretty sus" or "pretty sus ngl" ("not gonna lie") is very common online. It's always "pretty sus", never "pretty suss". I don't know what to tell you. Usage is usage. – Darth Pseudonym Feb 15 '22 at 03:15
  • @RobbieGoodwin I don't think there's any particular difference in meaning, I'm just reporting on how I've always naturally interpreted it. Similar to how 'BYOB' has an accepted meaning, but some interpret the second B as 'bottle' and some as 'booze'. – dbmag9 Feb 15 '22 at 10:16
  • So Darth; Dbmag9 Are you not both saying that to you personally, none of this matters? You're both accurately reporting what your experience has been, but it wouldn't otherwise? – Robbie Goodwin Feb 15 '22 at 20:58
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Sus (sometimes spelled "suss") is old, old slang, with two related main meanings.

Usual/main meaning

The meaning that applies here is sus = suspicious/suspicion.

(It can mean "suspect" but only as an adjective meaning suspicious/dubious such as "that document is suspect, it could be a forgery", never as a noun "John is a suspect in a robbery")

In the UK during the 1980s, it was slang that someone was "arrested on suss" - meaning on suspicion of being up to no good, carrying stolen goods or drugs, going equipped for crime, being involved in a crime that happened, loitering with intent to commit a crime.... something like that.

The same word and meaning, was also used to refer to an object or action, as being suspicious, suspect, dodgy, or otherwise not to be taken at face value or given good faith. So whether a person joining a protest was a genuine protester or an infiltrator, whether something was an accident or deliberate, whether something happened in good or bad faith, whether the gift is really a gift or an enticing trap/trick...... "It's (or They're) suss" or "It's (They're) a bit suss" (meaning "suspicious/suspect") covered all these shades.

So this is the meaning of your Facebook quote. The speaker is saying that people who joined Facebook after 2017 are suspicious/suspect in some manner - less likely to be seeking social media for the usual or traditional motives, or more likely to be dubious in some other manner. They need extra scrutiny as a rule, in a way that pre-2017 Facebook users usually don't need.

(It can also be used less seriously, I'll cover that below)

Related meaning

The other, related meaning, is most often seen in the phrases "sus(s) out" or "sussed/sussing out" or "sussed/sussing it". Meaning roughly, to have figured out or solved a conundrum, puzzling thing, problem, or anything else.

The connection to the first meaning is that the adjective something is sus(s) becomes used as a verb "to suss", or to "suss out".

Once someone or something is "sus", the logical next step is trying to figure out whether it/they are in fact the dodgy and bad faith things that they are suspected to be. The process of working that out naturally in slang terms becomes "sussing out" or "sussing it out" and having an answer becomes "sussed (it) out".

Note that while "sus/suss" always implies suspicious/suspicion, the related verb "to suss out/sussing out" does not automatically imply suspicion. As often happens, the slang "drifts" in meaning. The verb can simply mean to solve or figure out, a thing.

Examples

OP: I got a text telling me about my tax refund, but I don't pay any tax

A: Sounds sus to me, mate

B: Yeah, definitely sus. Go check with your employer's HR team see if its legit? [=legitimate, valid]

OP: Okay, sussed it out, its a scam, my friend got the same text last week and the website's a fake.

B: Great, I'll tell Joe not to bother checking the phone number if you've sussed it already.

And some examples as a verb,where it simply means "to work out or solve a thing":

I just sussed out (worked out/solved) that crossword clue!

My dad finally sussed (worked out) that I'm an adult and can do things like visiting friends without asking permission!

(The implication being, he had to think about it to realise the speaker is an adult and therefore can do these things.....)

It can also be occasionally used less seriously.

For example in humour:

  • "People who drive Honda cars are definitely suss"
    (meaning roughly, in humour, the speaker is suggesting there's something wrong or dubious about the kind of person whom would choose to drive a Honda car)

  • OP: "I ordered chicken and pineapple on my pizza."
    Friend: "Pineapple? Sounds sus to me, mate!"
    (in humour, joking at their friend's choice of topping)

So your tweet could also be making a joke, that people who joined Facebook recently are probably suspicious, but may not be serious about it. We can't tell which it is, serious or joking, without more context and perhaps even then its not totally certain.

Stilez
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