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Polo Shirt

Apparel
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A short-sleeved garment with a soft collar and placket, used in contemporary poetry as a metonym for casual leisure, middle-class comfort, or sport.

Detailed Definition
A polo shirt is a knitted shirt with a soft collar, a short row of buttons, and usually short sleeves. It occupies a middle ground between athletic ease and neat public dress. In poetry, it may evoke tennis courts, summer offices, suburban afternoons, or a person's effort to seem relaxed. The collar can rise in wind or fold beneath rain, making social composure visibly vulnerable to the weather.
Example
Example in poetry:
The poet’s green polo shirt carries a faint crescent of sweat from the long walk; In the garden poem, her striped polo shirt brushes against the roses; He buttons the polo shirt to the throat before speaking at the formal gathering; The collar of the polo shirt suggests a meeting point between relaxed leisure and social expectation.
Additional Notes
A polo shirt usually has a soft collar, a short button placket, and short sleeves. It is associated with sportswear, especially tennis and polo, but is also common in uniforms and smart-casual clothing. The term should not be confused with every collared knit shirt, since the placket is a useful identifying feature.
Also Known As
Golf Shirt Tennis Shirt
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