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Sep 5, 2005

This week's theme
Toponyms from New York

This week's words
Madison Avenue
tenderloin
Tin Pan Alley
Bronx cheer
Wall Street

Previous week’s theme
Words from medicine

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Who would have thought Madison, this shy, serious, short man (at 5'4", the shortest president in the US history) would one day have his name tacked to the industry noted for its bombast and tall tales?

And where did James Madison get his name from? Of course, from his dad Colonel James Madison, Sr. The name Madison indicated a son of Madde, Maud, Madeleine, or Matthew. These days, it's a popular name for both boys and girls.

Numerous locations in the Big Apple have become metaphors in themselves: Park Avenue for luxury, fashion, affluence, and high living; or Broadway. What comes to mind when you think of Broadway? Theater.

This week in A.Word.A.Day we'll feature terms having origins in New York that have now become allusions.

Madison Avenue

adjective:
1. Glitzy; insincere; deceptive.
2. Representing values and practices of the advertising and public relations industries.

noun: US advertising industry.

[After Madison Avenue, a street in New York City that was once the center of the US advertising industry. Perhaps it is symbolic that Park Avenue runs parallel to Madison Avenue.]

"South Africa focuses unprecedented resources on a Madison Avenue- style HIV-prevention campaign targeted at young people. What is needed instead is a broad mobilization of civic, religious, and other grass-roots communities, combined with clear and committed political leadership."
Daniel Halperin & Brian Williams; This Is No Way to Fight AIDS in Africa; The Washington Post; Aug 26, 2001.

X-Bonus