CRED° NOUN (YOUTH CULTURE)

In young people's slang: credibility, reputation, peer status. Etymology: Formed by abbreviating credibility to its first syllable. History and Usage: The emphasis on cred in the early nineties arises from the concept of street credibility which developed at the very end of the seventies. Street credibility (which by the early eighties was being abbreviated to street cred) originally involved popularity with, and accessibility to, members of the urban street culture, who were seen as representing ordinary people. Before long, though, the term had come to mean familiarity with contemporary fashions--or the extent to which a person was 'hip'. Once the concept was established, the word street was often dropped, leaving cred alone. 'Cred' was achieved by your rhetorical stance and no one had more credibility than the Clash. Bob Geldof Is That It? (1986), p. 125 'They've got to have total cred,' Boxall insisted, when listing the special qualities he is looking for [in a magazine editor]. Sydney Morning Herald 1 Feb. 1990, p. 28