# Crew or V neck tee under shirt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178 "2023-09-15T17:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/41 "2023-09-18T12:06:54Z")
I suppose if someone had sensitive or protuberant nipples, then a strappy would make some sense. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/42 "2023-09-18T14:20:00Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yeah, basically a tank top which to me makes no sense to wear as an undershirt. They add warmth, and don’t show at the neck. Good under non-dress shirts - flannels/polos…, which are less susceptible to sweat stains. Biggest problem is how to describe them in non-offesnive terms! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/43 "2023-09-18T14:35:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Biggest problem is how to describe them in non-offesnive terms! I’m wasn’t sure how they came to be called a ‘wife beater’. I was thinking maybe it came from the 1951 movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire but images online show Brando wearing an ordinary T-shirt with sleeves. So I looked it up and [wiki has the quote below](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeveless_shirt#:~:text=The%20term%20wife%2Dbeater%20reportedly,beater%22%20wearing%20a%20stained%20undershirt.) but is certainly not conclusive and other sources have earlier origins. > [@](#): > > The term wife-beater reportedly became synonymous for an undershirt after a 1947 criminal case where a Detroit man was arrested for beating his wife to death, and newspapers printed a photo of the wife beater wearing a stained undershirt. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/44 "2023-09-18T15:12:00Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Biggest problem is how to describe them in non-offesnive terms! 😉 The “official” sartorial term for such things is the “A-shirt”. Analogous to “T-shirt”. > **[A-shirt - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/A-shirt)** ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/45 "2023-09-18T15:13:18Z")
I was surprised, speaking to a Brooklynite, that we used different terms but both disparaged the same nationality. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178/46 "2023-09-19T15:59:53Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > See title — what goes better with a tucked-in dress shirt? Since the title is different than the first line, I’ll just add that wearing an undershirt under a polo is Just Plain Wrong. As for the argument that it’ll absorb sweat, if it’s warm enough for a short sleeve polo, that extra layer is going to make you sweat _more_ It’s like the old ethnic joke of what do you want to take with you on a walk across the desert & the one guy replies, “A car door because if it gets hot, I can roll down the window.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crew-or-v-neck-tee-under-shirt/990178.md?page=2)