" The term "A-shirt" is short for "athletic shirt" because it is often worn in sports, such as basketball and track-and-field events. In the United States, it is also known colloquially as a tank top or by its pejorative nicknames, wife-beater or guinea tee (which come from cultural stereotypes of a former era when they were considered an underwear-only type of clothing and wearing one in public was alleged to connote low social class). "