Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rockzmom
NEVER have I heard it called a wifebeater until this thread!
Neither have I, but given the fickle nature of the english language, it doesnt come as a complete surprise to me that some Americans (Dogboy for instance) use it.
Still "wifebeater" strikes me as quite odd, just cant see my way clear to adopting and using it.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Mr Happy Go Lucky and rockzmom, that's very interesting!
I've ALWAYS heard/seen it called a wifebeater and nothing else. :) And i always wondered why Americans don't like tank tops (?) so much. In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
:shock: Really? Never thought about майка this way. For me it was just a simple word.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Basil77
Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
:shock: Really? Never thought about майка this way. For me it was just a simple word.
Я сначала подумала, что опять что-то новое для меня. А это просто майка! :lol:
Да, я тоже майку никогда не ассоциировала с маем.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Кстати, я слышал такое выражение, как "майка-алкоголичка", чем-то напоминает американское название.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Basil77
Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
:shock: Really? Never thought about майка this way. For me it was just a simple word.
Yes, it's just a simple word. :) But some people associate it with May, and according to one of the two existing theories, it does derives from the word May. Anyway, I tried to say, that it's a neutral word without any negative widely known "nicknames".
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
Mr Happy Go Lucky and rockzmom, that's very interesting!
I've ALWAYS heard/seen it called a wifebeater and nothing else. :) And i always wondered why Americans don't like tank tops (?) so much. In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
Ahhhh that is simple.... two reasons:
Because we Americans wear those tank tops as shirts. My girls do almost 24/7. They layer them with other color tanks. Sometimes with a a lone vest over top. Men wear them just as a shirt. And "we" Americans don't like seeing hairy backs/armpits (male or female) or any fat ripples (male or female) under those tank tops. Yet, we don't want to workout to get rid of this unsightly fat or eat healthier.
And..
IMHO... it has a stigma of being a shirt that a foreigner would wear... say an Italian or Hispanic. Not a hard working AMERICAN. Not a "real" businessman, but the gardener or plumber... someone who needs to have a freer range of motion when he moves his arms or gets hots when he works and chopped off the sleeves of his undershirt.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rockzmom
Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
Mr Happy Go Lucky and rockzmom, that's very interesting!
I've ALWAYS heard/seen it called a wifebeater and nothing else. :) And i always wondered why Americans don't like tank tops (?) so much. In Russian it's quite a neutral word, associated with May (~a May shirt).
Ahhhh that is simple.... two reasons:
Because we Americans wear those tank tops as shirts. My girls do almost 24/7. They layer them with other color tanks. Sometimes with a a lone vest over top. Men wear them just as a shirt. And "we" Americans don't like seeing hairy backs/armpits (male or female) or any fat ripples (male or female) under those tank tops. Yet, we don't want to workout to get rid of this unsightly fat or eat healthier.
And..
IMHO... it has a stigma of being a shirt that a foreigner would wear... say an Italian or Hispanic. Not a hard working AMERICAN. Not a "real" businessman, but the gardener or plumber... someone who needs to have a freer range of motion when he moves his arms or gets hots when he works and chopped off the sleeves of his undershirt.
I think you answered your own question. You're a woman and who stated you have girls. I guess thats probably why you've never heard it. Because mostly men use this term. Also just because you worked in retail it doesn't come as a surprise that you haven't heard it. Its not like people go to the store to try them on or look out for the latest fashion of wife beater attire. You usually buy them in packs of 3 in the sock aisle at Walmart. Also, I think the word is most common with young(er) men so the fact you don't happen to be one of those is probably why you haven't seen it before.
I personally don't wear them (prefer тельняшки) or even use this word. But a lot of people do. So I guess 'people like me' are just stupid.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogboy182
I think you answered your own question. You're a woman and who stated you have girls. I guess thats probably why you've never heard it.
Ummm... hmmm.. Well just remember, I do have a father and I am married. I'm not completely ignorant to men's clothing.
And last I checked, a retail store means anything from Walmart to Lord and Taylor to Macy's to Saks and all of those stores actually DO sell packages of these types of shirts.
You need to get out more Dogboy and expand your horizons! :wink:
http://images.saksfifthavenue.com/im...A1_300x400.jpg
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogboy182
I think you answered your own question. You're a woman and who stated you have girls. I guess thats probably why you've never heard it. Because mostly men use this term.
I'm an all-around, died in the wool American guy and I ain't heard of that term, cross my heart and hope to die. You dear challenge my manhood? I hope not. For the record, I aint some pansy who wears women's clothes. :madred: :madred: :madred:
By the way, following this logic I'm going to call a three piece suit or toxido a wife-cheater. Lol
Honey, today I'm wearing a wife cheater so don't wait up for me tonight. Hehe.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
PS:
This is what a real wife beater looks like:
http://wylfwt.com/home/files/images/Wife%20Beater.jpg
http://wylfwt.com/home/files/images/Wife%20Beater.jpg
And what is hie wearing? Prison overalls I guess. Don't make no mistakes about it: a wife beater is a big hulk of a guy beating on his wife.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
Ok by all logic if you have three teenage boys you're 300x more likely to have heard the term than if you have girls. They, in turn will hang out with other boys who learn new words from them and copy each others styles, talk like each other, dress like each other ETC. As previously stated I heard this word for the first time when I was about 12 by hanging out with my friends. Someone used the word (probably learned it from another friend) and it stuck with all of us.
I guess that makes perfect sense.
Thats all I was saying. I wasn't challenging anyone's manhood or questioning whether or not anyone was married to a man. Kthnx.
Re: Wife-beater shirt... ?
I gotta admit I AM a little long in the tooth. The language is changing right before my eyes.