OED appeals list

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, James A. Landau wrote:

> wife-beater (sleeveless T-shirt, vest):
> antedate 1997

Here's earlier:


1994 _Boston Globe_ 28 Sept. [article beginning on page 35] (Nexis)

She also runs down a list of what's hot and what's not among GenXers these
days. Preppy is in, grunge is out. Lycra is out, vinyl is in. Bowling
shirts are in, wife beaters are out . . .

Whoa.

"When did bowling shirts take over for wife beating?" someone in the group
asks. Titters all around.

"Wife beaters, not wife beating," Rinzler says, laughing. "It's a kind of
shirt."


Fred Shapiro


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