wifebeater

[Bonikowski, Heather]

I don't think it is regional. I have citations from all over the USA,
including Lexington, KY; Austin, TX; and San Antonio, TX (none of which is
*exactly* the South, I know).

I think that the use is more generational than regional. No one over 30
seems to know it (or they know it from their kids, etc.)



-----Original Message-----
From: Derrick Chapman [mailto:derrickchapman at MINDSPRING.COM]
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 9:45 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: wifebeater


>Maybe we can take advantage of the truncated form and start
>referring to them as 'egg-beaters'.

Ovi-flagellation.

Did the abusive and t-shirt-wearing Marlon Brando inspire the "wife-beater"
term? Was it a reference to the idea of the breadwinner coming home, taking
off the shirt, and beating the wife and kids as relief from the pressures of
work?

I'd never heard the t-shirt referred to as a "wife-beater."  I live in the
South--is this a regionalism?