DCHP-2

Socred DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• 1 n. — abbreviation, Politics, originally informal

  Social Credit Party, a defunct conservative-populist political party active in the latter half of the 20th century.

  Type: 1. Origin — The abbreviation Socred is a Canadian innovation (e.g. the earliest attestations in OED-3 are Canadian). The Social Credit movement was inspired by the monetary policies of C.H. Douglas, a British engineer, outlined in his book Social Credit (1924). There were provincial parties from Quebec west to British Columbia. The national party peaked in 1962 when it won 30 seats. The Alberta Social Credit Party governed Alberta from 1935 to 1971, and in British Columbia the Social Credit party was active in politics, at times as the ruling party, from 1952 to 1991 (Bowering 1996: 300-305).
  According to database and internet domain searches the term is used predominantly in Canada (see Chart 1). The term is still used in the Canadian West, especially in British Columbia (Chart 2).
  See also Gage-5, s.v. "Socred"(1), which is marked "Cdn. Informal".

  See also: Social Credit Party  

• 2 n. — abbreviation, Politics, originally informal

  a member or supporter of the Social Credit Party.

  Type: 1. Origin — Although the Social Credit movement was developed in the United Kingdom, database searches suggest that the abbreviation Socred in reference to a member or supporter of the party was first used in Canada. In Canadian French, members of the party were called Créditistes.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "Socred", which is marked "Cdn", and Gage-5, s.v. "Socred"(2), which is marked "Cdn. Informal".

  See also: Social Crediter