The term wifebeater reportedly became synonymous for an undershirt after a criminal case in 1947. A Detroit native named James Hartford Jr. was arrested for beating his wife to death. News outlets printed a photo of Hartford in a stained undershirt and referred to him as “the wife beater.”

In the United States and Canada, it is commonly known as a tank top, tank shirt, muscle shirt, A-shirt, and also wifebeater, guinea tee, or dago tee (“guinea” and “dago” being American ethnic slurs for people of Italianethnicity).

The term wifebeater reportedly became synonymous for an undershirt after a criminal case in 1947. A Detroit native named James Hartford Jr. was arrested for beating his wife to death. News outlets printed a photo of Hartford in a stained undershirt and referred to him as “the wife beater.”

Then we called them O Dogs. Lol. That came from Menace 2 Society. We all know that.