A list of curious facts

One: The so-called ‘wife beater’ is going through an image overhaul. The iconic white ribbed baniyan for men earned its creepy name back in the 1940s:

In 1947, a man wearing one of these undershirts—originally called the “A-shirt” when it was introduced alongside “Jockey briefs” by Cooper’s in the 1930s—was arrested for murdering his wife. His mugshot, which was captioned “The Wife Beater,” is where the term is thought to have originated.

Its history became even more dubious when the garment gained legendary status when Marlon Brando wore it while playing Stanley—the rapist, wife-beating hubby in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. A shorthand for a certain kind of grimy working class machismo. 

Gen Z has now decided to rechristen it as the ‘wife pleaser’—or ‘wife respecter’ if you want to be super-correct. FYI: it’s also become a red carpet staple for Hollywood celebs—and is now “the male equivalent of a flash of underwear or wearing a lingerie-inspired gown on the carpet.” Or flaunting your bra strap? As you can see the 2023 version (below) is way more cleaned-up than the Brando incarnation—and in more ways than one. (GQ)

Two: Did you know that the tallest mountain in the world is not Mount Everest—not by a mile? The winner—when measured from base to peak—is Mauna Kea, a long-dormant volcano in Hawaii. It is approximately 10,205 metres in height—while Mount Everest's only 8,849 metres. That’s a difference of 1.4 km. But here’s the catch: over half of Mauna Kea is underwater. 

One good reason to put Mauna Kea on your adventure bucket list—as you can see below, it’s a whole lot warmer:) FYI: the next tallest mountain (if you’re going below sea level) is also in Hawaii: Mauna Loa—which is an active volcano. (Science Focus)

Three: A trend that started in the frugal era of 2022 may be here to stay. ‘Tiny martinis’ are served in small glasses and at lower prices. Bartenders also call them ‘tinis’ or ‘baby martinis’. So you can be ‘on trend’ and save money:)  It’s big in the UK, US and Australia—and is a sober-ish counterpoint to the 1990s SATC trend of swigging super-sized 10- to 13-ounce martini glasses. These alcoholic Mini-Mes are more like 1.5-ounces. FYI: all cocktails are going through a downsizing phase—for example, the ‘snaquiri’. (Bloomberg News)