"S" Slang

survival show

Internet

A televised contest where trainees compete and are eliminated, with the final winners debuting as a group. A high-stakes, fan-vote-driven format.

sus

Gaming

Suspicious, dodgy, or untrustworthy; can also be a verb ('sus it out').

suss

General

Gossip, rumor, or the latest scandalous news about people. Also used as a verb, to gossip.

suss out

General

To work something out, investigate, or arrange it. 'Suss it out' means find out or handle.

sussy

Internet

In weeb-meme crossover, it pairs with 'baka' as 'sussy baka', a mock-affectionate scolding for someone being a suspicious idiot.

sussy baka

Internet

An affectionate-mocking way to call someone a suspicious dummy. Used so ironically it loops back to sincere; you say it to friends acting shifty, NPCs in games, or anyone caught doing something mildly sus. Saying it unironically is itself the joke.

sustain

Gaming

Healing, lifesteal, or damage reduction that lets you stay healthy without backing. Champs with strong sustain win drawn-out lanes because they just heal back up the poke. Low sustain means you get bullied off the wave.

suurin

General

The act of courting or wooing someone romantically.

suxxor

Gaming

As a label for the thing that is bad, sometimes spelled with zeros.

suya

Street

Suya is thinly sliced, skewered meat (usually beef) grilled over an open flame and coated in a dry, spicy peanut-based rub called yaji. It's sold by roadside vendors, often called 'mallams,' across Nigeria.

swabbie

General

A Navy sailor; from the traditional shipboard chore of swabbing (mopping) the deck.

swag

Pop

A rolled-up sleeping outfit or portable bed, historically carried by itinerant workers ('swagmen').

swag (money)

Street

Beyond stolen goods generally, 'swag' can specifically denote the cash and valuables taken in a robbery.

swally

General

Alcohol or a drink of it; 'a swally' is a drinking session. As a verb, to swallow.

swampers

General

The classic Yooper boot: waterproof rubber from the sole to the ankle, leather up the shaft. Built for slush, mud, deer camp, and any season that isn't actively summer. Think L.L. Bean Bean Boot, but spoken in a Finnish-Michigan accent.

swangas

Street

The defining wheel of a Houston slab — 30-spoke wire wheels with long pointed hubs that jut horizontally out from the car, sometimes six or more inches past the bodywork. Originally fitted to '83 and '84 Cadillac Eldorados, now custom-made and known as 84s, swangas, or elbows. They're the loudest visual cue that a car is a real slab.

swangin'

Street

The signature Houston way of driving a slab — taking it slow, swinging the car lane-to-lane in long lazy arcs so everyone on the block clocks the paint, the wheels and the system. It's performance, not transport. Paul Wall and Slim Thug built whole songs around it.

swat

General

To deflect an opposing player's shot off course so it misses, often dramatically.

swatch

General

A look or glance; 'gie's a swatch' means let me see.

swats

Street

Southwest Atlanta. The acronym Southwest Atlanta Too Strong — coined and rinsed into the culture by Goodie Mob and the Dungeon Family in the mid-90s. Whole neighborhoods (Cascade, Adamsville, the West End) live under that flag.

swatted

Gaming

As the block itself, a forceful rejection of a shot.

swear down

Street

A statement of honesty — the London equivalent of 'I swear to God.' You say it to convince someone you're not lying.

sweat / sweating

Gaming

A sweat is the player who's cranking 90s, hitting perfect edits and playing optimally in a pub lobby that absolutely does not call for it. Named because they're sweating from effort.

sweatpants theory

Internet

The sweatpants theory holds that being relaxed and comfortable, like wearing sweatpants, can draw more attention than dressing up, because it reads as authentic and at ease.

sweaty

Gaming

Used as gentle mockery for taking any game or activity too seriously.

sweeney

Street

The shortened form of 'Sweeney Todd', Cockney rhyming slang for the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad.

sweeney todd

General

By the 1970s, a byword for hard-charging, no-nonsense policing, cemented by the TV series of the same name.

sweep

Internet

To rapidly buy up a batch of the lowest-priced listings in an NFT collection.

sweep the floor

Internet

To buy up multiple NFTs at or near the floor price in one go, which reduces supply and can push the floor higher; a show of conviction.

sweeper

General

A defender positioned behind the main defence who 'sweeps up' loose balls and starts attacks with intelligent distribution.

sweet as

General

An affirmative phrase meaning 'great', 'fine', or 'no worries'. The trailing 'as' is a Kiwi intensifier left deliberately dangling.

sweet drink

General

Any sweet carbonated beverage or soda pop.

sweet fanny adams

Street

Absolutely nothing; a euphemistic expansion of 'sweet F.A.'.

sweet-fuh-days

General

An intensified way of saying something is really good or tasty. Also 'sweet for days'.

sweetheart

Internet

A term of endearment for a romantic partner or dear person, and a familiar form of address.

sweetie

General

A sweet or piece of candy, especially the hard boiled kind.

sweetspot

Gaming

Lots of moves have multiple hitboxes, and the sweetspot is the strongest one — more damage, more knockback, the kill. Land the sweetspot and someone dies at 90%; miss it and they live to 140.

swell

General

Stylish, elegant, or upper-class (as a noun, a fashionable person).

swerve

General

To give something a wide miss. You swerve a meeting, swerve a mate who owes you money, swerve the last bus and get a taxi. Same root as the driving move — see it coming, go round it.

swerve it

General

An instruction to steer clear of something.

swerving

Internet

Swerving is intentionally dodging someone you find unsuitable, steering clear of their advances or attention.

swim lane

General

The distinct scope of work or responsibility assigned to a person or team, so efforts don't overlap.

swinging

Internet

Swing trading: holding a position over days or weeks to profit from a larger price swing, as opposed to intraday scalping.

swingman

General

A versatile player who can effectively play both shooting guard and small forward.

swipe

General

To pay to enter the subway by sliding a MetroCard through the turnstile reader. 'Swipe me in' asks someone to pay your fare.

swipe left

Internet

On dating apps, to swipe a profile to the left to reject or pass on that person.

swipe right

Internet

On apps like Tinder, to swipe a profile to the right to signal romantic interest; a match occurs if both do so.

swish

General

A made shot that passes through the basket without touching the rim or backboard, producing the distinctive net sound.