Tin Pan Alley

Origin of: Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley

Those wishing to show off can say at the next opportunity that Tin Pan Alley is a synecdochism i.e. a grammatical term where a place name becomes synonymous with an industry or profession. Hollywood, Wall Street, and Fleet Street are three other examples of synecdochisms. Tin Pan Alley has become synonymous with the music industry, particularly with song writing. Tin Pan Alley is the popular name for West 28th Street, in New York City where during the first half of the 20th century the music industry was housed. ‘Tin pan’ was originally a slang term for the cheap, tinny pianos that were frequently heard in this street during the early 20th century. The term Tin Pan Alley dates from c. 1906.