A friend at work told me that some friends of his were engaged in conversation, and one of them wondered aloud about how a Tee-Shirt (or T-Shirt) got it’s name. It doesn’t LOOK like a tee, or a T. So someone, lay that Straight Dopage on me!
Yer pal,
Satan
Actually, it does sort of look like a T. Lay the shirt out flat with the arms sticking out to the sides… It looks like a “T” with a very thick stem.
OTOH, I heard it was short for “Tennis” Shirt.
“Drink your coffee! Remember, there are people sleeping in China.”
Dennis Matheson — dennis@mountaindiver.com
Hike, Dive, Ski, Climb — www.mountaindiver.com
Actually, it’s suppossed to. that’s where the name came from.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Here’s another theory. I asked “jeeves” for the “history of the t-shirt.” One of the links that little gnome provided gave me this info.
In 1901, the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company (now just Hanes) introduced two-piece men’s underwear for catalogue sale. But it was the U.S. Navy, 12 years later, that inadvertently accelerated the evolution of underwear by issuing a revolutionary new item to its sailors. Seeking to avoid sexually scandalous sights exposed by its V-necked uniforms (read: hairy chests), the Navy issued a garment that featured short sleeves, a “crew” neckline (hence “crew neck”) and a vaguely “T”-shaped silhouette (hence “T-shirt”).
A few years later, the influx of sailors on leave during World War I brought about the truncating of the popular civilian “union suit” into a “singlet” or “jersey.” The price: 24 cents. The trend soon spread, and by World War II 12 million men were wearing the Navy’s newer, less expensive tee, which quickly became known as “skivvies.”
Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
OED goes with the "shaped like the letter T explanation.
T-shirt orig. U.S. Also tee-shirt.
[f. the letter T (see below) + shirt n.]
A simple kind of garment, orig. a man’s undershirt, typically short-sleeved, round-necked, buttonless and made from knitted cotton fabric, and forming the shape of a letter T when spread out flat; now a similar garment of various designs, widely worn as a shirt by men, women, and children for sport or as casual wear.
The earliest reference they give is for 1920, from F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Ugly