Closets and Wardrobes

[sistermagpie]

> Carol responds:
> Then you're the person I need to consult! The manuscript I'm editing
> now calls a man's sleeveless tank-top shirt (what the Brits, I think,
> would call a "vest") a "wifebeater." I was appalled by the term and
> couldn't find it in the dictionary, but I did find it in common use on
> shopping sites. Am I being an old fogey or is "wifebeater" an
> acceptable term? Is there a better one that wouldn't sound so
> offensive? ("Vest" won't do; it's an American book.)
> 
> Carol, feeling more and more lost and behind the times

Magpie:
why not just call it an undershirt? I think most people would know 
that's what's often today called a wife beater.

-m