Some New York City street names also denote whole industries, such as Wall Street and Madison Avenue. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Industry Street Names”
Out of all the New York language that I know, I think the street names referring to industries is probably my favorite. Broadway means theater, Wall Street means finance, Madison Avenue means advertising, even though for the most part, those industries can be found elsewhere as well. I mean, there still are theaters on Broadway, but the off-Broadway and the off-off-Broadway is even larger.
And finance, while there is still a lot of it in the tip of Manhattan, there’s still tons more elsewhere in the country and elsewhere in New York City.
Madison Avenue hasn’t really been the home to advertising in even longer.
Right.
So that’s pretty interesting, right? I can’t think of other names, but perhaps the Bowery still calls to mind the rough and tumble years of the Great Depression, right? Guys with a little too much to drink with their hands out for money and getting into scrapes and fights.
I don’t know.
Interesting, the geography of language.
Yeah, the geography of language.
Anyway, the language in New York City is super interesting. If there’s language that you believe is particular to the place that you live, let us know, 877-929-9673.
Email words@waywordradio.org.
