Why is a T-shirt called a “tee”?
Getting Ready For School At 5AM
A2 English listening practice · American English · Picked for people who know a little
A T-shirt got its name from its shape: when you lay one flat, the body and sleeves form the letter T. Americans shorten the word to tee, spelled like the letter pronounced. Both T-shirt and tee are everyday English now, and clothing brands stack the letter into all kinds of names: V-neck tee, graphic tee, ringer tee, white tee. The same letter-as-shape pattern shows up elsewhere too: A-line skirt, V-neck sweater, U-bend pipe.
In this clip, an American teen picks an outfit for school and lands on a white tee. The pun in her line, “white without the e,” plays on how tee sounds the same as the letter T.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.