Re: Spelling pronunciations (was: rhotic miscellany)

On Mon, Nov 08, 2004 at 07:19:13PM +0000, Ray Brown wrote:
> So British _vest_ is the American _undershirt_?
Maybe.  It depends on what you mean by "vest".  An "undershirt" is a
shirt designed to be worn under another shirt, not just for the warmth
of double layers but, e.g., to absorb sweat and keep it from staining
the outer shirt.  They are sometimes called "T-shirts" because of their
shape, but that's a more general term (see below).  They are usually
made of cotton, white, and short-sleeved; they may instead have no
sleeves, in which case they're not T-shirts but "tank tops", sometimes
referred to as "wife beaters" because they seem to be the favored form
of undershirt used by the people who show up on "Cops" - at least, those
few who show up wearing anything at all.  :)

> Sort of logical, I guess - except that over here there are some guys
> who, when the weathers warmer, don't wear the vest/undershirt under
> anything  :)
Then they're just T-shirts.  That's a more general term applied to all shirts
shaped that way, whether worn as undershirts or not.  Although if there
is an actual collar and a few buttons at the neck, then it's not a
T-shirt but a "golf shirt" or "polo shirt".

> Who was it said the UK and the USA are two nations divided by the same
> language?
Shaw?

-Marcos

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