High-necked garments were protecting knights' necks from chainmail by the 15th century, and from the late 1800s the polo neck was standard for fishermen, manual workers, sailors and naval officers. It acquired its second meaning in the mid-20th century, when the black polo neck became the uniform of academics, philosophers and artists, and was understood as an anti-tie: formal enough to be respectable, pointedly not formalwear. That ambiguity has been contested for a century, and since the 1920s wearing one in place of a shirt and tie has been frowned on in upscale restaurants and at weddings. The YouGov results show a U-shaped rather than a generational split. Americans aged 18 to 29 are 51% positive to 25% negative and those 65 and over are 52% to 22%, but the middle groups sag, with 30 to 44 year olds at 35% to 32% and 45 to 64 year olds at 38% to 36%. Both ends of the age range like it; the middle is unconvinced.