An avenue in Manhattan, New York, that traditionally has been a principal locus for that industry and whose name is metonymically extended to refer to it.
Madison Avenue is best known for the song " [Don't Call Me Baby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Call_Me_Baby "Don't Call Me Baby")" (October 1999), which peaked at number two on the [ARIA Singles Chart](https:/…
Bruce Humberstone | Madison Avenue | | --- | | [](https://en.wikipedia.org/wik…
An avenue in Manhattan, New York, that traditionally has been a principal locus for that industry and whose name is metonymically extended to refer to it.
“Madison Avenue is best known for the song " [Don't Call Me Baby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Call_Me_Baby "Don't Call Me Baby")" (October 1999), which peaked at number two on the [ARIA Singles Chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARIA_Singles_Chart "ARIA Singles Chart") in 1999 and topped the charts in New Zealand and the United Kingdom in 2000.”
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Slang from Black American Vernacular English (AAVE), hip-hop, drag and ballroom culture, the Caribbean, and NYC street vocabulary. The single largest source of new mainstream English slang in living memory.
See all Black culture & AAVE slang on Slangora.
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(UK) A placeholder name for a residential street.
(UK) An archetypal middle-class suburban residential street.
(UK, television, dated) A television programme in which actors advertise real products in a fictional setting.
(dated, British) That part of society that is influenced by mass media advertising.
02. [↑](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Avenue#cite_ref-2)Martin Mayer, _Whatever happened to Madison Avenue?: Advertising in the '90s_ (Little, Brown, 1991).
“Bruce Humberstone | Madison Avenue | | --- | | [](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Madison_Avenue_(film)_poster.jpeg)<br>Film poster | | Directed by | [H.”
“02. [↑](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Avenue#cite_ref-2)Martin Mayer, _Whatever happened to Madison Avenue?: Advertising in the '90s_ (Little, Brown, 1991).”
(chiefly, US, metonymic) The American advertising industry, regardless of location.
"Madison Avenue" means the american advertising industry, regardless of location. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
"Madison Avenue" is informal English meaning the american advertising industry, regardless of location. It is mainly used in North American English. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "the american advertising industry" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "Madison Avenue" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing. If you are a B2 or C1 learner, it is useful to recognise this word when you hear or read it, but think carefully about whether the situation really calls for it before using it yourself.