An Undershirt for the Common Man

Back in May of 2005, I wrote about mens undershirts being called "wifebeaters" and whether or not that term would ever dominate everyday usage. I opined that we were, at the very least, twenty years away from using this slang to refer to a men's undershirts (or "a-frames" if you want to be more accurate). Well, maybe we're more than that.

Boston discount retailer Building 19 recently advertised a sale for "wifebeaters," and let's just say the reaction was less than positive. According to this article from WCVB-TV in Boston (where I also got the picture from), the flier went to far, and upset advocates for domestic violence victims. None of this is surprising, of course. Perhaps if Building 19 had been a regular reader of NegativeMode, they would have known that society isn't ready to publicly accept the widely used "wifebeater" in corporate communications. Nevertheless, I'm sticking to my prediction that twenty years or so down the road, you will see "wifebeater" on packages of undershirts ... just not yet.