"usual suspects" meaning in English

See usual suspects in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the 1942 film Casablanca, especially since the 1990s. Head templates: {{en-noun|p}} usual suspects pl (plural only)
  1. The people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime. Tags: plural, plural-only Synonyms (scapegoats): scapegoat
    Sense id: en-usual_suspects-en-noun-bnOyycqs Disambiguation of 'scapegoats': 91 9
  2. (by extension, informal) The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context. Tags: broadly, informal, plural, plural-only Synonyms (people or things that would be expected to appear): regulars Coordinate_terms (people or things that would be expected to appear): as usual, as always Translations (people or things that would be expected to appear): toujours les mêmes (French), a szokásos dolgok/személyek/gyanúsítottak [plural] (Hungarian), a szokásos társaság/kompánia (Hungarian)
    Sense id: en-usual_suspects-en-noun-tgyOGSYe Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 10 90 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 21 79 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 21 79 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 17 83 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of 'people or things that would be expected to appear': 8 92 Disambiguation of 'people or things that would be expected to appear': 8 92 Disambiguation of 'people or things that would be expected to appear': 8 92
{
  "etymology_text": "The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the 1942 film Casablanca, especially since the 1990s.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
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      "expansion": "usual suspects pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1942, Murray Burnett, Joan Alison, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains):",
          "text": "Major Strasser has been shot... round up the usual suspects.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime."
      ],
      "id": "en-usual_suspects-en-noun-bnOyycqs",
      "links": [
        [
          "scapegoat",
          "scapegoat"
        ],
        [
          "crime",
          "crime"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "sense": "scapegoats",
          "word": "scapegoat"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "10 90",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
          "parents": [
            "Pluralia tantum",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "24 76",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
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      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "word": "as usual"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "word": "as always"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 May 22, James Howard Kunstler, “Entropy Made Visible”, in Terrain:",
          "text": "I think the eco-utopian picture … is an unlikely outcome. I generally avoid over-population arguments. But there’s no question we’re in population overshoot. The catch is we’re not going to do anything about it. There will be no policy. The usual suspects: starvation, war, disease, will drive the population down. There’s little more to say about that really, and it’s certainly an unappetizing discussion, but it’s probably the truth. In any case, we’re in overshoot and we face vast resource scarcities. That’s it. The “usual suspects” are already doing their thing as worldwide food prices go up and peoples on the margin begin to suffer and starve.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 September 29, Matt A.V. Chaban, “A Bid to Make the Park Lane Hotel a Landmark, but Not by the Usual Suspects”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "And yet a quiet campaign is in the works to secure landmark protection for the 46-story limestone and glass tower. It is not being led by the usual suspects, like preservationists, community groups or politicians.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016 March 9, Hugh Schofield, “France unions and youths protest against labour reforms”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "It was - to be only a little bit unfair - all the usual suspects at the Paris demo. Trotskyite students chanting against the patriarchy; anarchists; grizzled veterans of '68; plenty of pensioners; theatre-workers. In other words the regular left-wing alphabetti-spaghetti.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context."
      ],
      "id": "en-usual_suspects-en-noun-tgyOGSYe",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, informal) The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "word": "regulars"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "informal",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "word": "toujours les mêmes"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "a szokásos dolgok/személyek/gyanúsítottak"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
          "word": "a szokásos társaság/kompánia"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "usual suspects"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English pluralia tantum",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations"
  ],
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "word": "as usual"
    },
    {
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "word": "as always"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the 1942 film Casablanca, especially since the 1990s.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "usual suspects pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1942, Murray Burnett, Joan Alison, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains):",
          "text": "Major Strasser has been shot... round up the usual suspects.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "scapegoat",
          "scapegoat"
        ],
        [
          "crime",
          "crime"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 May 22, James Howard Kunstler, “Entropy Made Visible”, in Terrain:",
          "text": "I think the eco-utopian picture … is an unlikely outcome. I generally avoid over-population arguments. But there’s no question we’re in population overshoot. The catch is we’re not going to do anything about it. There will be no policy. The usual suspects: starvation, war, disease, will drive the population down. There’s little more to say about that really, and it’s certainly an unappetizing discussion, but it’s probably the truth. In any case, we’re in overshoot and we face vast resource scarcities. That’s it. The “usual suspects” are already doing their thing as worldwide food prices go up and peoples on the margin begin to suffer and starve.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 September 29, Matt A.V. Chaban, “A Bid to Make the Park Lane Hotel a Landmark, but Not by the Usual Suspects”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "And yet a quiet campaign is in the works to secure landmark protection for the 46-story limestone and glass tower. It is not being led by the usual suspects, like preservationists, community groups or politicians.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016 March 9, Hugh Schofield, “France unions and youths protest against labour reforms”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "It was - to be only a little bit unfair - all the usual suspects at the Paris demo. Trotskyite students chanting against the patriarchy; anarchists; grizzled veterans of '68; plenty of pensioners; theatre-workers. In other words the regular left-wing alphabetti-spaghetti.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, informal) The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "informal",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "scapegoats",
      "word": "scapegoat"
    },
    {
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "word": "regulars"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "word": "toujours les mêmes"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "a szokásos dolgok/személyek/gyanúsítottak"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "people or things that would be expected to appear",
      "word": "a szokásos társaság/kompánia"
    }
  ],
  "word": "usual suspects"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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