# What makes these t-shirts funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064 "2013-03-16T00:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/21 "2013-03-16T03:04:45Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > [From here:](http://browse.feedreader.com/c/Tshirt_Groove/301877243) > > All kinds of sassy sparking off this shirt. Sally walks up to the front of the velvet rope. Gives the gatekeeper the look, and the gatekeeper asks with a shrug, “who are you?” As if?!?!?!?!?!? > > She dresses him down. His boss comes out to see what the trouble is. Sees who it is. Swats the meat head in the back of the head. And offers Sally, in heart-felt apology, bottle service at the corner table. That looks like advertising copy for selling the T-shirt. That is, it came after the T-shirt. It doesn’t explain where the t-shirt came from in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![MuleSkinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@MuleSkinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MuleSkinner)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/22 "2013-03-16T03:14:13Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > That looks like advertising copy for selling the T-shirt. That is, it came after the T-shirt. It doesn’t explain where the t-shirt came from in the first place. WAG: The younger generation sees her on those commercials for the Christian Children’s Fund and don’t know her from her earlier work. The shirt is a response to them asking who she is. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/23 "2013-03-16T04:13:48Z")
[QUOTE=MuleSkinner] …others where the ink is soaked into the shirt and can’t be felt. [/QUOTE] Probably dye sublimation. Dye sub ink does become one with the fibers, but, IIRC, works best with polyester, and not so well, if at all with cotton. I’ve had som dye sub shirts, and the print lasts about as long as the shirt itself. It will fade a bit, but it won’t crack or peel like the hot transfers that were available in practically every shopping mall basement level in the 70s and 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/24 "2013-03-16T04:51:56Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > The fact of the matter is that these t-shirt companies are on-demand printing. They accept any t-shirt design. They don’t have to spend money on the infrastructure to actually print and warehouse t-shirts. In general, people are stupid and not particularly funny. That said, there may be some appeal to some demographic that I’m unaware of. If somehow some idiot buys your shirt, you get some kind of percentage. In any case, I think it’s free to submit a design, therefore the plethora of stupid shit. > > By the way, the on-demand printed shirts are crappy ink-jet printed shirts and will last about 2 washings. Not quite. They (T-Shirt Hell) take “[idea submissions](http://www.tshirthell.com/forms/ideas_submission)” from the public, and if they like the idea, they design and sell a shirt using that idea. You submit your idea in text form, basically just describing what you have in mind, and if accepted, their own people create the actual design (and you win $200 and some free shirts). They do have some jokes that I just don’t get, but mostly the TV-related pop culture jokes, since I don’t watch TV. > [@MuleSkinner](#): > > I bought several shirts from there years ago that I still wear around the house. Both the shirts and the ink were high quality and lasted a long time. No, I have no affiliation with the website. Yup, I’ve bought several shirts from them over the years and they’ve all been high-quality, silkscreened shirts (I used to do semi-professional silkscreening). ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/25 "2013-03-16T06:32:15Z")
Posting my reply before looking at the rest of the thread. The first example: Everyone’s so connected to their devices (particularly iPods and iPads) that they’ve become mindless capitalist sheep. Hence, USheep, to go along with the “i” in iPod. Two, three and four beat the heck out of me. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/26 "2013-03-16T07:24:15Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > The fact of the matter is that these t-shirt companies are on-demand printing. They accept any t-shirt design. They don’t have to spend money on the infrastructure to actually print and warehouse t-shirts. In general, people are stupid and not particularly funny. That said, there may be some appeal to some demographic that I’m unaware of. If somehow some idiot buys your shirt, you get some kind of percentage. In any case, I think it’s free to submit a design, therefore the plethora of stupid shit. > > By the way, the on-demand printed shirts are crappy ink-jet printed shirts and will last about 2 washings. As mentioned, I think you are confusing Tshirt Hell with CafePress. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/27 "2013-03-16T11:02:58Z")
Moved from General Questions to IMHO. **samclem** ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/28 "2013-03-16T11:31:42Z")
I thought the second one was a [Bison Steve](http://www.falloutwiki.com/Bison_Steve_Hotel) reference, myself, but that might be reading too much into it. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/29 "2013-03-16T12:42:36Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > That said, I think the real answer to the OP’s question is that these are not particularly funny shirts. Maybe not, but these are: [1](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/ante-christ/) [2](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/suicide-watch/) [3](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/atheist/) [4](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/top-gun-bottom-gun/) mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/30 "2013-03-16T21:06:18Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Maybe not, but these are: > > [1](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/ante-christ/) > > [2](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/suicide-watch/) > > [3](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/atheist/) > > [4](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/top-gun-bottom-gun/) > mmm 1. meh 2. OK, quite funny 3 and 4 I don’t get, 4 probably because I don’t recognise who the “bottom” gun is ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/31 "2013-03-16T21:23:44Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Aesthetically, I just don’t dig the 4 color process because I cut my teeth on hand cut rubylith. It’s purely an arbitrary judgement call. YMMV. I can empathize. When I started out, my major expenses were blueline board, graphics tape and Rapidograph tips. Now it’s keeping Creative Suite up to date and replacing monitors. As much satisfaction as my blueline work gave me, I wouldn’t want to go back to it. Nor back to razor-cut film editing. Nor back to a wild mess of audio panels jacked into each other. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/32 "2013-03-16T21:26:35Z")
I laughed out loud at “My Native American Name is Steve” and “Top Gun, Bottom Gun”. I thought both were extremely funny although I wouldn’t wear either of them. I got all of the others except for Sally Struthers and Toby. Oh, wait, I just got Tobey – it’s a play on the word Obey: Tobey/Obey. But it’s about as funny as Uma/Oprah. > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > 1. meh > 2. OK, quite funny > 3 and 4 I don’t get, 4 probably because I don’t recognise who the “bottom” gun is John Travolta. It’s a gay (anti-gay?) joke, based on popular perceptions about the two actors. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/33 "2013-03-16T22:42:46Z")
I thought the last one might be a reference to Toby from Roots. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/34 "2013-03-17T02:04:51Z")
T shirt hell baby shirt/outfit/(whatever a baby wears): > **[T-Shirt Hell :: I TORE MOMMY A NEW ONE](https://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/i-tore-mommy-a-new-one/)** > > I Tore Mommy A New One ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/35 "2013-03-17T23:32:38Z")
Tshirthell used to have a section called “torso pants” which is where most of the unfunny shirts came from. They weren’t meant to be offensive or funny in any particular way, just random. Torsopants was not a hit and was eventually folded back into the main site. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064/36 "2013-03-17T23:51:57Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > 1. meh > 2. OK, quite funny > 3 and 4 I don’t get, 4 probably because I don’t recognise who the “bottom” gun is The animal in shirt 3 is a praying mantis [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-these-t-shirts-funny/653064.md?page=1)