T-shirt business is just bostin

Black Country sayings such as 'Bostin aye it' and 'Yowm saft yow am' have gone global with orders for t-shirts bearing the phrases flooding in from all over the world.

Requests for shirts created by Stourbridge-firm The Obmik Company have come from far and wide including Australia, India, Spain and Italy.

Many want them as gifts for ex-pats as a reminder of home, and yet more have been sent to people working in the armed forces.

The firm has also been visited by tourists from America and Canada who have taken the shirts back with them.

The shirts carry the phrase and a 'proper' English translation such 'Bostin aye it – Def: Delightful isn't it', and 'Yowm saft yow am – Def: You are silly'.

Bosses from the firm, based in Pedmore, said it was becoming more likely tourists from the Black Country could be walking down a street abroad and see one of the sayings from home.

And families abroad are also set to enjoy a Black Country Christmas with the firm launching a series of cards featuring Black Country verse.

It was started by mother-of-four Kim Topham. "The idea really came from my father and my husband," she said.

"My father comes from Netherton and has a very broad Black Country accent but my husband comes from Worcester and could not understand what Dad was saying sometimes. I used to translate and someone heard my definitions and said I ought to put them on a t-shirt. So I did." People can visit www.blackcountrytayshirts.googlepages.com