That’s right, folks. Hold on to your web browser…I’m doing a post on Among Us, the game developed by InnerSloth where you suss out the most sus(picious) sus(pect) by using your over 500 IQ.
Why am I doing this? A) Among Us is one of the most trending games at the moment, so I’m going to ride those virtual coattails. B) It’s near Halloween, and what better spooky topic than a shapeshifting murderous space parasite that causes you to be sus of your own friends.
I’m not going to talk about over 500 IQ strats or touch on the lore–there are plenty of those on YouTube and other blogs. I’m not even going to discuss my theory that the game is so popular because it features people in space suits trying to carry on with their daily lives while dealing with a infectious creature that kills their friends and family during a pandemic in the real world. You can thank The Game Theorists video on the Among Us lore for that connection. MatPat talks about how there are so many body snatching alien movies during the 1950s, which was the height of the Red Scare.
Nope. I’m going to talk about the latest buzzword/slang “sus.” It is used as a chat shortcut for “suspicious” or “suspect”…most often for “suspicious.” For example, “I saw Red standing over the body; it’s very sus.”
With the growing popularity of Among Us, more and more people are using “sus,” mostly as a joke. I’ve been through many trending slang words over the years and most of the time they don’t bother me. I find some of them even funny and some I start using. But, for some reason, “sus” got on my nerves right away. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. “Those young people and their silly slang; why can’t they just speak normal like the rest of us? Oh, hey, George…whaaaazzzzup?”
No, I think the reason “sus” bothers me is because it’s an impostor.
Duh-duh-duuuh…
Most other buzzwords can be silly, fun, or in some way positive or neutral. “Sus” on the other hand is negative. You’re telling someone you are suspicious of them or suspect them of something. Even if you don’t really mean it, it has that connotative meaning behind it. You are implying guilt. The word pretends to be a happy, friendly word–“Oh, look, isn’t that just sus. Hahahaha…”–when in fact, it is a word that causes distrust and blame. In the game, you use it to point the finger at someone or to pass blame on to others.
Also, everyone acts like saying “sus” is some new, creative thing. We’ve been using the word “suss” for years to show that you are trying to figure something out. A detective will try to suss out a criminal. A student tries to suss out their homework. And if you just Google search “suss” and look at the dictionary, “suss” was an abbreviation for “suspect” or “suspicion” in the 1930s…weird, almost a hundred years ago (now that’s some Halloween spookiness right there). People have just dropped the extra “s” much like they drop a “g” in something like “going.”
And “sus” isn’t the only impostor. The whole “over 500 IQ” statement is an impostor. Like “sus” it can carry an negative connotation. It makes you sound like you are bragging or that you are better than everyone else.
We’ve got to launch these villainous slang words out the airlock before they completely infect our language. We must not become lazy and complacent in our writing!
Creeeek…
No. I was only kidding, Red. Heh, heh. It’s a Halloween post. It’s just for fun. No. No need for the spike tongue. NOOO!!
GLAK!
Happy Halloween…and I’ll see you next wormhole. Thanks for reading.
Joe Rover 