TLD – Nice subtitles for us English-speakers (obligatory winkie smiley omitted, I’m not gonna do it, darn it), but what, pray tell, is a “singlet?”
A “singlet” is an undershirt, what the English would call a vest.
Thank You everybody! How nice the song is.
I’ve just a last question: I saw in the link sent to me from Olentzero (by the way, how did you learn italian?)the followins sentences:
“Christmas shopping is often done in shorts and t-shirts. At many beaches, Santa Claus arrives on a surfboard, or even on a surf lifesaving boat.”
Is it a Joke or does really anyone go surfing dressed in red and white? I hope the reindeers can swim…
e.
[Nat King Cole]
Sydney roasting on an open fire…
[/NKC]
elisa - I taught myself Italian. Languages are a hobby of mine. 
I think if Santa comes in on a surfboard, it’s not in full polar uniform, but probably a pair of red and white board shorts.
In Louisiana, St. Nick’s sleigh is pulled by alligators. See?
I have suspected this, since encountering the word “singlet” (solely) in the short stories of W. Somerset Maugham, but I’m still confused. Maugham was English, why did he use “singlet” instead of “vest”?
Is there no further distinction between the two terms?
tracer
You’re no fun at all
Dashing through the sand,
In our bathers and our thongs,
Running through the waves,
Singing Christmas songs.
Visiting our friends,
Laughing all the way.
Swatting flies and eating pies
On a sunny Christmas Day.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride on a surfboard, not a sleigh
Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride on a surfboard, not a sleigh.
(But I like TLD’s version better).
“singlet” in the US is a tank top/“wife beater”
And what about South Africa or Brasil?
Do people celebrate Xmas in the same way of europe and Usa?
If they celebrate Christmas like they celebrate Carneval down in Brasil, I’m heading south next December.
This is an intriguing question, and one I’ve yet to find a satisfactory answer to. It’s not an Australianism, even though that where the word seems to have the greatest currency. My 'Strayn Colloquialism Dictionary’s only mention of the word was as part of “useful as a hip pocket in a singlet” (meaning as useful as a one-legged man at an arse-kicking party).
First off, here is a picture of the iconic Aussie singlet as worn by Chesty Bond.
It appears that both singlet and vest mean may mean much the same garment in the UK, although like you kaylasdad99, I’d never heard a Pom call one a “singlet”. Maugham is not the only British user of “singlet”. The OED (which is not a free site so I can’t give you a link) has for “singlet”: “An unlined woollen garment (knitted or woven), now usually close-fitting and worn as an undershirt or jersey.” Quotations date from 1746 and the term is not labelled obs.
As for “vest”, it’s “c. A knitted or woven undergarment for the upper part of the body, worn next to the skin.” Quotes only go back to 1851.
As for other sources, see dictionary.com for singlet and vest. "Tank top" appears distinguishable, but only on the basis that it may not chiefly be underwear.
None of this really seems to address the issue of the difference between a vest and a singlet. Not tightness of fit, the occasional presence of buttons, material (jersey seems to mean either a soft cloth or a clinging one), nor sleevelessness. Perhaps vests are longer.
It is curious that in no case I’ve seen does the definition of one refer to the other. No mention of regional use is made, but that’s what I’d guess.
Well there is a man’s garment called a doublet but I can’t find any historical connection between the singlet and the doublet, they’re both similar insofar as they cover the torso so maybe it was just an original term which was replaced by vest?
See www.crimsongypsy.com/gallery6.html
BTW Marks & Spencers in the UK always sold ‘Singlets’ rather than ‘Vests’. And in Aus a waistcoat is generally referred to as a vest. Gets confusing!
The classic Australian Chesty Bond singlet in hawthorne’s link is also known as a Jackie Howe after the famous Queensland shearer. The dark blue variety of this singlet is the standard uniform of truck drivers.
I’m not too sure about that. This Aussie has always thought of a waistcoat as the tailored, button-fronted, sleeveless part of a three-piece suit, and a vest as being a sleeveless jumper, usually woollen, but always without an open front (it’s a pullover type thing).
Or the traditional (perceived) garb of a hard-core lesbian playing the guy.
[hijack]Nobody move! This thread is going to Cuba!
Okay, help me out here. In the U.S.
Vest: Buttoning sleeveless garmet such as one gets with a three-piece suit.
Sweater-vest: Non-buttoning sleeveless garmet, usually knitted, like a sleeveless sweater. Usually V-necked.
**Tank-top:[b/] Sleeveless, scoop-necked cotton or ribbed cotton pull-over top. Causal, like a T-shirt.
Jumper: One-piece skirt and top combination, usually worn with a blouse underneath it, commonly worn by little girls and some school teachers.
How does this corrolate to the Aussie/British terms?
[/hijack]
Hmmmmm, okay…
Australian Terminology
Vest: Non-buttoning, sleeveless, usually V-necked, usually woollen garment of the type favoured by nerdy clerks in grocery stores. I think this is the US sweater-vest.
Waistcoat: The inner part of a three-piece suit
Singlet: Close-fitting, sleeveless, with shoulder straps. Usually cotton. Designed as an undergarment, but often worn on it’s own by blue collar workers. Often worn in its intended sense (undergarment) under business shirts by white-collar workers.
Tank top: Not an expert here, being a guy. I think it’s like a singlet, but (slightly) more dressy, and not designed as an undergarment. A female, casual, summer top.
Jumper: Knitted, sleeved, buttonless, item of winter clothing worn by both sexes.
Cardigan: Knitted, usually woollen, casual, sleeved, buttoned garment. Looks a bit like a coat. Very nerdy.
Sloppy Joe (No, you don’t eat them): Buttonless, sleeved, casual, unisex top made out of tracksuit (trainer) material.