Among Us didn’t invent the word, I know, but it’s certainly responsible for its explosion in popularity over the last few years. So it shouldn’t be too surprising to see “sus” finally make it onto the game show, Jeopardy.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
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In tonight’s episode, contestants were given the prompt, “Slang adjective for someone you think is not what they seem, especially if they might be the imposter in the game ‘Among Us.’”
Mattea nailed it:
Like I said, Among Us didn’t invent the word. Its recorded history goes back almost a century, when it was used in Britain as “police jargon.” To say someone was “sus” was simply…shortening the word “suspect,” the exact same meaning used today (and in the game).
While the word has some troublesome connotations—it was used in connection with some stop-and-search police search laws in the UK which turned out to be enormously racist—it has remained in constant use since, along with its sibling “to suss something out,” which living in Australia I still hear all the time.
Of course, my Dad and his mates using the word wouldn’t explain its wider adoption by internet culture, otherwise we’d all also be saying, “You’ve got Buckley’s chance,” or when you fall off something you’ve “come a cropper.” The use of “sus” as popularised in the last 20 years comes instead from its adoption by black communities online:
