Before the 2010s, the term “sus” was used as a shortened version of the word “sustainable” (Merriam-Webster). The word that we know today was different and changed in 2013 by a video of a person in Los Angeles went viral. However 2017, when gamers who spoke English, coined the term for a short way of saying suspect or suspicious, used in the game Town of Salem, which is a witch hunt type game where you work with the other town residents to find the witch, but the word didn’t become ingrained in Gen Z slang until 2020, when during the Covid 19 pandemic a video game called Among Us became popular. Among Us is an online multiplayer game, where there are one to two “imposters” that are trying to kill the other players. The players must figure out who the imposter is before the imposter kills everyone. Players interact after a dead body is found or if someone hits the red button in the center of the map. Players would have to use a chat box to type where they are at and say who they suspect (Steam). The word “sus” is quicker to type and say. Ever since, many have kept the word “sus” to describe anything suspicious. Later, the term “sussy baka” was made into a term meaning “suspicious” “idiot”, after a viral video of a bald man went viral (Lets learn slang).

• “Among Us on Steam.” Among Us on Steam, https://store.steampowered.com/app/945360/Among_Us/. 

• Palacio, Juan. “Sus Slang: Meaning, Origin, Sentence Examples.” Lets Learn Slang, 20 July 2022, https://letslearnslang.com/sus/. 

• “What Does 'Sus' Mean?” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-sus-mean.