DEF ADJECTIVE (YOUTH CULTURE)

In young people's slang (originally in the US): excellent, great, 'cool'. Often used in the phrase def jam, brilliant music. Etymology: Usually explained as a clipped form of definite or definitive (in its slang sense 'the last word in...'); compare rad and brill (see brilliant). However, it seems more likely to be connected with the use of def (derived from death) as a general intensifying adjective in West Indian English. This is borne out by a number of early uses of def in rap lyrics, where death can be substituted more readily than definite or definitive (words which would not anyway be appropriate in this context). History and Usage: Def belongs originally to hip hop, where it started to be used by rappers in about the mid eighties; the US record label Def Jam dates from about that time. The word soon became extremely fashionable among both Black and White youngsters in the US and the UK. A series of programmes for a teenage audience on BBC2 from 9 May 1988 onwards was given the general heading 'DEF II'. For further emphasis, the suffix - o may be added, giving deffo. Further def vinyl to look out for includes deejay Scott La Rock's album. Blues & Soul 3-16 Feb. 1987, p. 30 Shot in super-slick black and white, with a half-hour colour 'behind the scenes' documentary, this is actually quite a funky lil' package. And a deffo must for all Jan fans. P.S. Dec. 1989, p. 27