Reply #55: wifebeater is what they're called around here [View All]

Wife beater, also wifebeater, and sometimes abbreviated as simply beater, is a slang term used in North America to refer to a tank top style shirt when worn as a sole, outer layer (as opposed to being worn as an undershirt). This term is often seen as demeaning and is often associated with the similarly derogatory phrase “white trash.”

The origin of the term is from the stereotype that the shirts are worn predominantly by men who beat their wives; black tank tops were often worn by Ike Turner, a notorious abuser of his wife Tina. In the 1980 movie Raging Bull, the main character, a boxer, is commonly seen wearing tank tops around the house, including in one scene where he beats his wife. Countless drunk and disorderly domestic abuse suspects who were arrested on the TV show Cops also wear such shirts.