# sussed ---only in England?



## jorge_val_ribera

Hello everybody!

I learned this word today: sussed ("looks like you've got it sussed"). Well, I learned it from an Englishman (Benjy) and I would like to know if that word is also used in the USA.

Thanks, bye!


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## VenusEnvy

jorge_val_ribera said:
			
		

> I learned this word today: sussed ("looks like you've got it sussed"). Well, I learned it from an Englishman (Benjy) and I would like to know if that word is also used in the USA.


I have no idea what that means! I assume it's colloquial. But, what does it mean?


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## suzzzenn

Hi, 

I've never heard it either. 

Susan


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## Benjy

to have it sussed is to understand it. you could talk about a learning a new skill and when it was learnt say "i have it sussed"

you can also have a person sussed (out) as in they are trying to trick you and you catch them out/work out what is going on 

at least thats my take on it. someone will now come along and contredict me


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## VenusEnvy

Oh, ok. We (meaning me) use "pegged". 

Ex. I've got it pegged. 
Ex. I've got her pegged.

Does this sound familiar to you, or don't you say this in BE?


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## Benjy

i don't say it personally but if someone did i would understand straightaway what it meant. it might be used in england.. but you will have to await the general consensus of the intelligent english people who are asleep at 1:30am


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## suzzzenn

> Oh, ok. We (meaning me) use "pegged".
> 
> Ex. I've got it pegged.
> Ex. I've got her pegged.


Good one Venus! I couldn't think of our equivalent, but you've got it pegged.

Susan


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## timpeac

Benjy said:
			
		

> i don't say it personally but if someone did i would understand straightaway what it meant. it might be used in england.. but you will have to await the general consensus of the intelligent english people who are asleep at 1:30am


 
Well you'll have to put up with the unintelligent ones who are still awake I'm afraid . I agree with your understanding of the meaning. I too wouldn't use it, but would understand it. I would say "I've got it figured out" I think.


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## VenusEnvy

I wouldn't have even guessed as to what "sussed" meant!


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## mjscott

Ahhhhh, Venus! Don't play so humble! We've got you sussed as more intelligent than you give yourself credit!


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## la grive solitaire

timpeac said:
			
		

> Well you'll have to put up with the unintelligent ones who are still awake I'm afraid . I agree with your understanding of the meaning. I too wouldn't use it, but would understand it. I would say "I've got it figured out" I think.


Does "to have it sussed" mean the same thing as "to have cottoned on"?


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## JLanguage

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Does "to have it sussed" mean the same thing as "to have cottoned on"?


 
Never heard of either phrase, must be a Brit thing.


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## lsp

_Was_ a Brit thing, until 1969 when The Who used it in the song lyrics for "We're Not Gonna Take It" in Tommy, which was recently reintroduced as a Broadway musical.


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## gaer

jorge_val_ribera said:
			
		

> Hello everybody!
> 
> I learned this word today: sussed ("looks like you've got it sussed"). Well, I learned it from an Englishman (Benjy) and I would like to know if that word is also used in the USA.
> 
> Thanks, bye!


New word for me too. Never heard it before! 

Should we assume this is BE?

Gaer


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## jacinta

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Does "to have it sussed" mean the same thing as "to have cottoned on"?


The word I know is "to cotton to something" meaning to take a liking to something.

I don't cotton to him.
I don't cotton to eating spinach.


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## la grive solitaire

jacinta said:
			
		

> The word I know is "to cotton to something" meaning to take a liking to something.
> 
> I don't cotton to him.
> I don't cotton to eating spinach.



Yes, and I cotton to that expression.   I first heard "to cotton on to" from someone who is Scots, and I was just wondering if "to have it sussed" is a synonym.


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## panjandrum

I've never heard *cotton* used without in this sense without the *on*?

And I've only heard *cotton on* (*cottoned on*) used where *suss* or *sussed* would also make sense - with that meaning of having eventually worked something out after puzzling at it - or worked someone out who you thought was misleading you.

Now that the intelligent English should be awake, does he (or she) know where "sussed" came from?


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## Benjy

panjandrum said:
			
		

> I've never heard *cotton* used without in this sense without the *on*?
> 
> And I've only heard *cotton on* (*cottoned on*) used where *suss* or *sussed* would also make sense - with that meaning of having eventually worked something out after puzzling at it - or worked someone out who you thought was misleading you.
> 
> Now that the intelligent English should be awake, does he (or she) know where "sussed" came from?



ta da:
http://www.allwords.com/word-suss.html

the word suspect apparently


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## la grive solitaire

Thanks, panjandrum.  The context was, "I was upset and nobody cottoned on." So, "I was upset and nobody sussed it [out?] ?


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## panjandrum

Well, well - related to the "suss law" then, after all. 

Incidentally, is the phrase "intelligent English" singular or plural?


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## panjandrum

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Thanks, panjandrum. The context was, "I was upset and nobody cottoned on." So, "I was upset and nobody sussed it [out?] ?


......sussed it.
*out* not required in that sentence. In your example, cottoned on or sussed carry exactly the kind of sense of angst that if only they'd cared about me as a person they would have seen that I was upset. Much more meaning than "...nobody noticed."  Good one


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## garryknight

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Thanks, panjandrum. The context was, "I was upset and nobody cottoned on." So, "I was upset and nobody sussed it [out?] ?


I agree with panjandrum on this one: "out" isn't needed. As far as I've noticed, "sussed" is the equivalent of "cottoned on" or "realised", whereas "sussed out" means "worked out", "figured out" and so on, as in "I've finally sussed out what Eric was banging on about". It's a subtle distinction.


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## Benjy

garryknight said:
			
		

> I agree with panjandrum on this one: "out" isn't needed. As far as I've noticed, "sussed" is the equivalent of "cottoned on" or "realised", whereas "sussed out" means "worked out", "figured out" and so on, as in "I've finally sussed out what Eric was banging on about". It's a subtle distinction.



which would make sense if the etymology that i found was correct 

"and no one suss[pected] it"


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## cez

The word sussed is chiefly Brittish, it means to inspect or to investigate so as to gain more knowledge. It is usually used with the word 'out' as in sussed out or figure out. A trasitive verb. "Picking up from the testimonies, the police finally sussed out the reason behind the fire."


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## Brioche

jorge_val_ribera said:


> Hello everybody!
> 
> I learned this word today: sussed ("looks like you've got it sussed"). Well, I learned it from an Englishman (Benjy) and I would like to know if that word is also used in the USA.
> 
> Thanks, bye!


 
This expression is also used in Australia.


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## cirrus

If you describe someone as sussed it means they are confident and know what they are doing or talking about.  It's fairly slangy. For example imagine if you talking to teachers about drugs and harm reduction and one of the teachers pipes up about injecting marihuana.  It would then become clear that person wasn't particularly sussed about drugs. In other words: not clued up.


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## foxfirebrand

The only times I've ever come across _suss_ has been on forums with BE speakers.  I'm a Who fan, so when they used it it obviously escaped my notice.  But in those days my favorite quote about them was "and we *all* know ew the ew haw!"'
.
.


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## LV4-26

Then it does relate to _"on sus"?
_Like_
He got pulled on sus _(i.e. he was arrested on mere suspicion).


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## cirrus

LV4-26 said:


> Then it does relate to _"on sus"?
> _Like_
> He got pulled on sus _(i.e. he was arrested on mere suspicion).



Yes it does. There was a law which was popularly known as the sus law. People were stopped and searched allegedly because their behaviour was suspicious. The problem was it was used disproportionately against black people. In the early 80s protests against suss became a cause celebre and triggered riots in several inner city areas.


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## maxiogee

cirrus said:


> Yes it does. There was a law which was popularly known as the sus law. People were stopped and searched allegedly because their behaviour was suspicious. The problem was it was used disproportionately against black people. In the early 80s protests against suss became a cause celebre and triggered riots in several inner city areas.



It may "relate" to it, but I'm sure it predates it. I definitely heard "he's got that thing sussed" long before I heard of the police reference.


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## cirrus

No doubt about it Tony.


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## Manorrd

VenusEnvy said:


> Oh, ok. We (meaning me) use "pegged".
> 
> Ex. I've got it pegged.
> Ex. I've got her pegged.
> 
> Does this sound familiar to you, or don't you say this in BE?


I wouldn''t say that "pegged" is the same thing as "sussed."  It's similar, but not the same thing.

Suss functions more like a full functioning verb, whereas having something pegged is more like an idiom.

For example, you wouldn't say, "I'm going to peg it right now," or "Did they peg it?"

But you can say "I'm going to suss this right now," or "Did they suss it."

Suss always seemed to me like the equivalent of "figure it out" (one can "suss it out").


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## eggplant

incidentally, does anyone else use 'suss' as a shortening of suspicious/suspect? Like, 'she looked really suss.' I probably use it more than 'suspicious, even.


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## mgarizona

foxfirebrand said:


> The only times I've ever come across _suss_ has been on forums with BE speakers. I'm a Who fan, so when they used it it obviously escaped my notice. But in those days my favorite quote about them was "and we *all* know ew the ew haw!"'
> .
> .


 
_Hey you getting drunk, so sorry_
_I got you sussed_
_Hey you smokin' Mother Nature_
_This is a bust_

from We're Not Gonna Take It

Though I'll confess, myself, it wasn't until I heard it in a Jam song (All Mod Cons: great title!) that I bothered to find out what it meant.

Or should that be 'suss out'?


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## baz259

Incidentally, is the phrase "intelligent English" singular or plural?
Being as there are not many of us left, it could be singular.
I’ve got him sussed
Figured 
His measure 
him Taped.
And many more.
barry


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## konungursvia

Sussed is never used in North America, though I can't speak for ANZAC. It's also an unattractive expression: "sussed out" sounds like bastardised French. Maybe that's why it never caught on here.


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## cirrus

konungursvia said:


> It's also an unattractive expression: "sussed out" sounds like bastardised French.


I beg to differ. Isn't the whole point of English is just how much it has bastardised French?    How many times do you find yourself struggling for a word in French and then realise that the reason the word didn't come to mind is that the word we use in English came to us form French in the first place?


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## konungursvia

Ah, there I agree with you that one of the wonderful strengths of English is how free we have become to use French words and grammatical constructions; before the Norman invasion, we wouldn't have been able to say &quot;without fail&quot; (sans faute), or &quot;to a certain degree&quot; etc. So English is indeed a very great bastard. What I meant by the phrase &quot;bastardized French&quot; is a use of a partly correct French word in a manner that makes the French in it sound awful, and the speaker ignorant; another example, though only said tongue-in-cheek: &quot;silver plate&quot; for s'il vous plaît. Many UK dialects of English are indeed unattractive, you have to admit. I only like RP, Liverpool, Scottish English and Irish English. Cockney English has its charms, as does Somerset and Bath, but most of the others are a bit rough sounding in my opinion. Sorry.


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## sound shift

konungursvia said:


> Many UK dialects of English are indeed unattractive, you have to admit. I only like RP, Liverpool, Scottish English and Irish English. Cockney English has its charms, as does Somerset and Bath, but most of the others are a bit rough sounding in my opinion. Sorry.



Well, if it's just your opinion (and I don't see how it could be anything else, as this is a subjective matter), we don't have to admit that "Many UK dialects of English are indeed unattractive", do we? I'll leave it at that because we are well off-topic already.


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## Johnnyga

Thanks, everybody !!

I was curious, I have been for... 40 years, after hearing Rod Stewart sing (I Was Only Joking):
"Me and the boys thought we had it sussed,
Valentinos all of us..... "

Now I know what it means !


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## natkretep

Welcome to the Forum, Johnnyga!   This is what the Forum is for.


LV4-26 said:


> Then it does relate to _"on sus"?_
> Like
> _He got pulled on sus _(i.e. he was arrested on mere suspicion).





cirrus said:


> Yes it does. There was a law which was popularly known as the sus law.





eggplant said:


> incidentally, does anyone else use 'suss' as a shortening of suspicious/suspect? Like, 'she looked really suss.' I probably use it more than 'suspicious, even.


That is the derivation given by Oxford Dictionaries:
*Origin*
1930s: abbreviation of suspect, suspicion.

The connection becomes clearer with the noun and adjective.


> *NOUN*
> _mass noun British informal _with adjective or noun modifier Knowledge or awareness of a specified kind: _‘his lack of business suss’_
> *ADJECTIVE*
> _British informal_ Shrewd and wary: _‘he is too suss a character to fall into that trap’_


suss | Definition of suss in English by Oxford Dictionaries


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## Johnnyga

natkretep said:


> Welcome to the Forum, Johnnyga!   This is what the Forum is for.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is the derivation given by Oxford Dictionaries:
> *Origin*
> 1930s: abbreviation of suspect, suspicion.
> 
> The connection becomes clearer with the noun and adjective.
> 
> suss | Definition of suss in English by Oxford Dictionaries


Thanks natkretep ! I'll be back for more


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