[Ads-l] A-shirt

[James A. Landau]

In my local K-Mart I discovered a rack of "A-shirts", a term that is new to me but a quickie online search shows it has been around for a while.  According to Wikipedia, the term is short for "athletic shirt" rather than being something in the shape of a letter A.

It is a sleeveless, buttonless shirt with shoulder straps that leave most of the shoulders bare.  Sometimes known as a "tank top" (a term that in my experience refers only to women's clothing) or less politely "wife-beater".

In the interests of inconsistency, the same K-mart does not apparently sell "T-shirts" but does sell
1.  "tees"---I don't know if this be the result of linguistic drift or a Madison Avenue brainstorm
2.  "crews" which I think refers to the neckline rather than the sleeves
3.  "t-shirts"---doesn't anyone realize that the shirt got its name from being shaped like a CAPITAL T?

Off-topic:  an on-line article on US crude oil exports mentioned Curacao as being "in the Lessor Antilles".  Hmmm---a comment on US imperialism in the Caribbean?

- Jim Landau

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