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How common is the use of the word "tee" for T-shirt in the UK or the US?
I'm asking it because I saw it firstly on the site of a chain of clothing in the UK (see attached picture)
I found on Oxford dictionary that it is in informal use (see definition No. 3). But still it's interesting to know how common it is in use. I'm afraid also to say to someone that I bought for him "tee" and he will think that I'm talking about tea...
It's a common abbreviation term in advertising, but you generally wouldn't use it in speech the way you mention. A native speaker would most likely say "I bought you a tee shirt."
From a British perspective "Tee" is a very American thing.
Doing a quick search on Google UK for "tee" brings up 100% US-based websites, and searching for "T-Shirt" brings up UK-based fashion shops (online & high street). Browsing a few of those sites from the home page they all have sections for "T-Shirts", but none of them have a section for "Tees". Interestingly though, searching within some of those sites for "tee" does bring up results.
Anecdotally, I have never heard anyone say "Tee" aloud, except when referring to the drink "tea".
In the US, I hear tee used stand-alone more often from women than men, but maybe that's because I'm more likely to be talking about clothing with women. It's not as common as t-shirt, but it's not at all strange for me to say, for example, "do you know where my purple tee is?" It's usually clear from context what I mean—for example, if I'm digging through the laundry without a shirt on while asking the previous question or if one of my kids asks about the weather and I say "I think you'll be fine in just a tee."
It's hard to get a sense of spoken patterns from a written record, but there are a lot of blog posts (like this one) and tweets (like most of these) that mention things like "jeans and a tee" or "my favorite tee" without using the full tee-shirt, so I don't think I'm alone in sometimes using the shorter form.
Also, in some places tee is countable, so it would be unlikely to be confused for the beverage—for example, I would say "I got you a tee" but "I got you some/a cup of tea". In places where the beverage is also countable, it would be more important to rely on context (especially if the tea is green or the tee is hawt!).
You don't need to use the shorter form, though; it's always safe and acceptable to say t-shirt in full.
The use of the word "tee" is somewhat common orally, but it generally isn't written. If you want to avoid confusion you should say "I bought you a T-shirt" or "I bought you a shirt". Either one of those should communicate what you mean to say without fear of confusing the item of clothing with the popular drink.
I,m old (ish) and British. I have never EVER used the word "tee" to describe a T-shirt. Does that help?
«I'm afraid also to say to someone that I bought for him "tee" and he will think that I'm talking about tea»
So don’t. You are clearly a more careful and thus clear speaker, since you thought about this at all.
If you establish the context first you can omit the -shirt.
Q: What kind of shirt should I wear?
A: The “T”.
or
I packed 5 shirts for the trip: 3 “T”s, a polo, and a button-down just in case we go someplace nice for dinner.
But as a careful and clear speaker, you would not say something like
I bought Dad a “T” for his birthday.
devoid of any context that you are speaking of shirts. Unless the word “shirt” would be repeated in close proximity (like in the 2nd blockquote), there is no need to drop it from “T-shirt”.
