Ever hear "suss out"? Origen?
Alan J Flavell
lar...@rusty.Kronos.COM (Larry Krakauer) writes:
>A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
>a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
>world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
>heard it in my life.
In a British context (to be more accurate maybe I should say
"English") I think this derives from a law that allowed those
suspected of a particular range of crimes to be "held on
suspicion of having commited {particular offence}". This was
widely nicknamed "The Suss Law", and those who fell foul of it
were said to be "held on Suss". Thence, "to suss out" came to
be used to mean something like "to investigate, with a view to
forming a suspicion...".
The law fell into considerable disrepute, there being a widespread
belief that when the police wanted to investigate someone for
offence X (outside the range of this law), they would trump up
a plausible suspicion of offence Y (within its range) and arrest
the victim on that instead. It has, I suppose, been repealed
(I'm no lawyer, I'm just reporting from everyday knowledge).
M22...@mwvm.mitre.org
lar...@rusty.Kronos.COM (Larry Krakauer) writes:
>A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
>a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
>world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
>heard it in my life.
>
>
>-- Larry Krakauer (lar...@kronos.com)
I don't know what it means, but I seem to remember hearing it in the lyrics
of one of the songs in "Tommy". So it's been around for a while.
nich...@utkvx.utk.edu
lar...@rusty.Kronos.COM (Larry Krakauer) writes:
>A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
>a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
>world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
>heard it in my life.
>
>(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
>take a sort of informal vote.)
>
>Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
>
>If you've never heard it: It seems to be used in the sense
>of "to ferret out" information, as in "During the interview,
>try to suss out the depth of his programing background".
>The two people who used it actually, when questioned, had no
>idea of how it is spelled; "suss out" is a pure guess on my
>part; that's what it sounded like.
>
>-- Larry Krakauer (lar...@kronos.com)
YES On the Young Ones. Neil says something like: doesn't anyone ever
suss-out to clean this oven. Also Kate Bush- "We've got the job sussed, this
shop's shut for business..." in reference to staking-out a shop in preparation
to robbing it.
Christopher Jack Nicholson "I see myself, suddenly, on
NICH...@UTKVX.UTK.EDU the piano as a melody"
Senior in French and Religious Studies -Kate Bush
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Annie M. Benson
writes: : >A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
: >a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole : >world
knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before : >heard it in my
life. : > : >Have people in this group ever heard this expression? : >(I'd
appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can : >take a sort of
Living here in California, I have never heard that expression
before. To me it sounds like a sanitized version of "to suck out"....
but that is only an uneducated guess....
Annie
Paul Purves
I have heard and used this phrase reasonably commonly here in NZ.
Chambers English Dictionary defines it as to investigate: to find out,
discover, which is just as I thought it meant.
Cheers,
Paul
Hal Sadofsky
In 1984-85 when I was a student in Cambridge, England I hear this
expression quite frequently. I don't think I've ever heard it in
the US.
I'd always assumed that the "suss" came from "suspect," since "to suss out"
seemed to mean "to figure out what was going on." But I have no idea about
the actual etymology.
Marc Jacobs
>A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
>a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
>world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
>heard it in my life.
>Have people in this group ever heard this expression?
>(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
>take a sort of informal vote.)
>Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
In England, they use the phrase "he/she had it sussed," meaning "he/she had
it mastered or perfected." For example, imagine I'm trying to play this
really difficult guitar part and I finally got it right. I would say, "I've
sussed it," or "I have it sussed," as in "I nailed it," (an American
phrase.) As far as "to suss out," I can't say.
Hope this helps.
Marc Jacobs
jcbs...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu
J Barrett
: >writes: :
: >A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
: >a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
: >world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
: >heard it in my life.
: >Have people in this group ever heard this expression?
: >(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
: >take a sort of informal vote.)
: >Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
To "suss out" or "sus out" is one of thos wonderful expressiions
which seems to slowly materialise in British English, and spreads
across the Kingdom. I first heard it from West Indian kids in
my school, and assumed it was imported from them.
"to get it sussed" is indeed to get something right, perfect etc.
"to suss out" can also mean the same. e.g.
"I've bought this new video, but haven't sussed out how it
works." or it can mean,
"I knew he was telling lies, I sussed him out immediately."
That is, to expose, to ascertain, to discover.
Also there was a law in England ( not sure about Scotland )
called the Vagrancy Act, which gave the Police powers of
stopping and searching. This became known as the "sus" law,
as it could be executed on suspicion that someone was carrying
an offensive weapon etc.
I first became aware of it in the mid-late 70s.
John Barrett
Malinda McCall
of Britticisms including "suss". It isn't scatological.
2=^>
"I've got you sussed, neil!", et cetera: "I've got you pegged, I've
figured you out, I understand your actions, Gotcha."
2=^>
{neil: "Wow. Heavy. [moans, looks depressed.]" }
Mr Neville Steven Percy
I started hearing the term "suss out", (or "get the suss of" etc.) being used
here in the London area (England of course) about five years ago. Naturally
I first thought it was a silly expression, but that was just coz I wasn't
familiar with it... Sure enough I was shortly using it all the time.
I _don't_ reckon to use it on the Net, thinking it's a British thing which will
cause more confusion than it's worth... but sometimes it just slips out.
When this occurred a couple of months ago, I was picked up as non-US, but by an
Aussie, who also knew the term.
I always presumed it was derived from having suspicions of something turn out to
be correct, but I could be wrong (:>
Matt
>: >A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
>: >a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
>: >world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
>: >heard it in my life.
>: >Have people in this group ever heard this expression?
>: >(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
>: >take a sort of informal vote.)
>: >Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
>
> To "suss out" or "sus out" is one of thos wonderful expressiions
I've never seen it spelt this way.
> which seems to slowly materialise in British English, and spreads
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Quite a vivid image. My impression is that new words
catch on very quickly and I'd guess the same was true
of 'suss'.
> across the Kingdom. I first heard it from West Indian kids in
> my school, and assumed it was imported from them.
> "to get it sussed" is indeed to get something right, perfect etc.
You would always say 'I've got it sussed.' , not 'I have it sussed.'. The
latter sounds a bit strange, but I suppose there's no reason not to say it.
> "to suss out" can also mean the same. e.g.
> "I've bought this new video, but haven't sussed out how it
> works." or it can mean,
> "I knew he was telling lies, I sussed him out immediately."
> That is, to expose, to ascertain, to discover.
Absolutely right.
> Also there was a law in England ( not sure about Scotland )
> called the Vagrancy Act, which gave the Police powers of
> stopping and searching. This became known as the "sus" law,
> as it could be executed on suspicion that someone was carrying
> an offensive weapon etc.
> I first became aware of it in the mid-late 70s.
I don't think the law and the word have anything to do with each other: at
least, I never connected the two myself. I thought 'sus' was just an
abbreviation for 'stop under suspicion (of ...)' or something like that.
Matt.
--
Matthew Woodford.....mjw@rowan.cov.ac.uk.....Gollum the Great!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"Hansel said to Gretel 'You can really be a bitch, I've wasted my life on a
legend, When my one and only love was the wicked witch.'"
-> Laurie Anderson
C. Gordon Keeble [gordo]
: To "suss out" or "sus out" is one of thos wonderful expressiions
: which seems to slowly materialise in British English, and spreads
: across the Kingdom. I first heard it from West Indian kids in
: my school, and assumed it was imported from them.
: "to get it sussed" is indeed to get something right, perfect etc.
: "to suss out" can also mean the same. e.g.
: "I've bought this new video, but haven't sussed out how it
: works." or it can mean,
: "I knew he was telling lies, I sussed him out immediately."
: That is, to expose, to ascertain, to discover.
: Also there was a law in England ( not sure about Scotland )
: called the Vagrancy Act, which gave the Police powers of
: stopping and searching. This became known as the "sus" law,
: as it could be executed on suspicion that someone was carrying
: an offensive weapon etc.
: I first became aware of it in the mid-late 70s.
: John Barrett
The phrase "suss me out" can be found on one of the early Bob Marley
albums (1st or 2nd). I've forgotten what song. Either "Rebel Music" or
"Three O'Clock in the Roadblock." Circa 1971
gordo
ck7...@csc.albany.edu
Gordon...@f113.n267.z1.fidonet.org ck7...@rachel.albany.edu
Rick Pali
PP> I have heard and used this phrase reasonably commonly here in NZ.
PP> Chambers English Dictionary defines it as to investigate: to find out,
PP> discover, which is just as I thought it meant.
Couls the root have been 'to seek out?' It sounds pretty similar...
Rick.
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Larry Krakauer
>07 Apr 94 10:40, Paul Purves wrote:
>
> PP> I have heard and used this phrase reasonably commonly here in NZ.
> PP> Chambers English Dictionary defines it as to investigate: to find out,
> PP> discover, which is just as I thought it meant.
>
>
We've tracked this down; it is British, and comes from
"suspicion". If the police hold someone "on suss", they
are holding him "on suspicion". This apparently evolved
into the current form, which is starting to make inroads
into the US.
-- Larry Krakauer (lar...@kronos.com)
campbell
: >a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
: >world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
: >heard it in my life.
: >
: >Have people in this group ever heard this expression?
: >(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
: >take a sort of informal vote.)
: >
: >Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
Yes, I've heard of "suss out". In fact, I use it commonly myself. I don't
know its origin but at a guess, looking at the dictionary definition (yes,
"sus out" is in my dictionary), I'd say it comes from suspicion or suspect.
To suss something out is to figure it out, i.e. to confirm one's suspicions.
I feel it's got this connotation - I sussed it out = I suspected something
and then I discovered the truth through investigation. To me "suss" implies
something of the mental process through which the discovery was made.
Rowena Campbell
camp...@angis.su.oz.au
Anthea F Gupta
: >lar...@rusty.Kronos.COM (Larry Krakauer)
: >writes: :
: >A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within
: >a week, each time used casually as if everyone in the whole
: >world knew what it meant, when in fact I had never before
: >heard it in my life.
: >Have people in this group ever heard this expression?
: >(I'd appreciate hearing either Yes or No answers, so I can
: >take a sort of informal vote.)
: >Does anyone have any clue as to its origin?
(I missed the beginning of this thread -- hope I haven't misrepresented
anyone, and am not repeating anything that's been said :) )
OED new supplement has "suss out" from 1966 (Queen (magazine) "You susses
things out on its own"). It comes from "suspect" and the verb's earliest
attested use without the OUT is 1953 (D WEBB, Crime is my business, "He
turned to Hodge and said "Who's sussed for this job?"
The noun is older (from suspicious or suspicion) going back to 1936 (J
Curtis, Gilt Kid, "What you nick me for? Sus?"). You can still be
picked up "on sus" in UK if the police don't like the look of you (e.g.
you're a young, scruffy, black male) -- see OED's 1977 quote on this point.
There's an OED thread at the moment -- I have an original Compact (2
volumes with magnifying glass), plus the 4 supplements that have come out
since.
Anthea
--
_________________________________________________________________________
Anthea Fraser GUPTA
English Language & Literature
National University of Singapore
Kent Ridge e-mail: ellg...@leonis.nus.sg
Singapore 0511 telephone: (65) 772 3933
________________________________________________________________________
Miss J S Brierley
When I was at primary school, we used to say 'suss!!' when someone had said
something which was then proved wrong. The person then (if they were a
smart-ass) said back to us, 'That's not what it means! It means: you've
got it all worked out!'
I'm still laughing about the trains.
from en...@warwick.ac.uk
Leszek Cieplinski
: >: >A while ago, I heard the expression "to suss out" twice within