The spectacular rise of t-shirt is now well acknowledged and this rapid growth was due the Navy which started the landslide by the issue of a 'T' shaped, short sleeved undergarment without collars for the use of its sailors. Subsequently when the icons of the film industry, icons like Marlon Brando and James Dean showed up on the silver screen clad in these shirts, the attractiveness of these shirts skyrocketed and just about every one wanted to be seen in them. In today's slang, they were considered to be cool! Its popularity soared in leaps and bounds aided by the progress in the quality of the fabric used in their manufacture and in the advances in the printing techniques involved.

There is a saying that every piece of clothing says something about the wearer, but none says as much as what a funny t-shirt does. These shirts can be mildly to extremely funny, they can be totally absurd, funnily outrageous and offensive without being overtly so. The sphere of influence of these t-shirts is so wide that it can be bounded only by the limits of the designers imagination.

In the political arena, these t-shirts are used to put across a political point or ridicule one, be supportive of a candidate or be mean to another. History tells us that during his 1948 Presidential crusade, the then Governor of New Your, Thomas E. Dewey used one such t-shirt with the message "Dew-IT with Dewey" printed on it.

There isn't a subject on earth that has not appeared on the t-shirt in some funny form or another. Everyone and everything has been ridiculed. Americans, Britishers, Canadians, politicians, lawyers, girls, boys, dogs, cats, games and even human attitudes; just mention a subject and one is sure to find some funny t-shirt in some nook or corner sporting something hilarious on it. If it so happens that someone has a whacky phrase of his own and wants the society to know about, all that they have to do is to log on to the Internet, submit it to a website that specializes in making customized t-shirts, and Lo and Behold, it is delivered at their doorstep. It has become such a nationwide phenomenon that small children and senior citizens can be seen wearing them.

The invention of more robust and stretchable printing inks have made possible the countless uses of psychedelic graphics and colors of various hues. Computers have made possible the creation of intricate patterns and fantastic and convoluted fonts. Combined with word play, the funny t-shirt has become a resourceful means of expression. The stuff that appear on these funny t-shirts can double up a person with laughter or might leave one dazed enough to stand and gawk at what is inscribed in the front. The back of the t-shirt is also used to throw you off track.

The myriad possible uses of explicit and implicit graphical pictures, different colors and psychedelic auras, bizarre fonts, whacky catchphrases and play on words make the funny t-shirt a versatile medium to expression. The use of these techniques could have one wracked with laughter or might leave one stupefied enough to stand and gape at what is emblazoned in the front. Not to be out done, the back of the t-shirt is also capable of riveting you down.

A person who is wearing a particular t-shirt with a specific phrase on it may be taking a shot at telling the world their impressions and yours may not agree with it. He or she may be using the attire for self aggrandizement. When a father or a mother picks up a t-shirt with a funny message or picture on it, he or she may be subconsciously expressing a thought or opinion. If there isn't a funny t-shirt custom-made just for any one person, it must only be a strange coincidence.

A rude or offensively funny t-shirt might just be the purpose of the person who is sporting it to give an expression of his or her anger against an individual or a concept; the more offensive the message the more his resentment. One has to be very guarded these days since a simple phrase that does not offend one may offend another. The best bet may be a t-shirt with a big empty circle drawn on it. Nothing to it.