The phrase "said the actress to the bishop" is a colloquial British exclamation, offering humour by serving as a

punch line A punch line (also punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people Laughter, laugh. It is the third and final part of the Joke#Telling jokes, typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and th ...

that exposes an unintended

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

. An equivalent phrase in North America is "that's what she said". The versatility of such phrases, and their popularity, lead some to consider them

cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

History and variations

The term, or its variant "as the actress said to the bishop", is

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in origin. It supposedly originated from a conversation between the actress

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

and the

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

. They were at a country house weekend party and on Sunday morning before church, they went for a stroll in the garden. On their walk, the bishop cut his finger on a rose thorn. Over lunch, Lillie enquired about his injury, asking: "How is your prick?" To which the bishop replied: "Throbbing," causing the butler to drop the potatoes. The supposed association of actors with amorality and the incongruity of what a cleric and actor could legitimately have in common to discuss explains its ribald connotation. The phrase was in popular usage in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

c. 1944–47, but may originate from the

Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

. The phrase is frequently used by the fictional character

Simon Templar The Saint is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a List of works by Leslie Charteris, series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date other authors collaborat ...

(alias "The Saint") in a long-running series of mystery books by

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (; born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin; 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.Enter the Saint'', published in 1930; abbreviations of both the phrase ("as the actress said on an auspicious occasion") and of the alternative version ("as the bishop said") appear in the 1928 ''

Meet the Tiger ''Meet the Tiger'' is an action-adventure novel written by Leslie Charteris. In England it was first published by Ward Lock in September 1928; in the United States it was first published by Doubleday's The Crime Club imprint in March 1929 with ...

''. The version "as the girl said to the soldier" appears in a recorded sound test for

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's 1929 film ''

Blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

''.

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

uses the line in his 1954 novel ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the academic and romantic tribulations ...

'', where a woman offering relationship advice to Jim Dixon says "I can't show you, as the actress said to the bishop." The title character on the US TV show ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

'', after several seasons of using "phrasing!" to draw attention to double entendres, briefly toyed with "...said Ripley to the android Bishop", a reference to both this phrase and the 1986 film '' Aliens''. British comic artist

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...

has produced a comic inspired by the joke, '' The Actress and the Bishop''.

"That's what she said!"

By 1973, "that's what ''she'' said" had already been characterized as an "ancient one-liner". In the early 1990s, it was a recurring joke in the ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' sketch "

Wayne's World "Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live''. The first "Wayne's World" sketch appeared in the 13th ''Saturday Night Live'' episode of the Saturday Night Live season 14, 1988–1989 seas ...

". In the movie of the same name, the character, Wayne Campbell, uses the phrase after his friend Garth says, "Hey, are you through yet? 'Cause I'm getting tired of holding this", in regard to a picture he is holding. In the original

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

version of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'',

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

's character

David Brent David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary ''The Office'', portrayed by the show's co-creator, co-writer, and co-director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of t ...

frequently used the phrase "as the actress said to the bishop" as an inappropriate joke. When the show was adapted for American audiences, also under the title ''

'', the phrase was translated to "that's what she said" for

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...

's character

Michael Scott Michael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to: Academics * Michael Scot (1175 – c. 1232), mathematician and astrologer * Michael L. Scott (born 1959), American academic and computer scientist * Mike Scott, British linguist and designer ...

. "That's what ''she'' said" (with an emphasis on the word "she") became a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

of ''The Office'' and was used for the show's "That's What She Said" Sweepstakes. On several occasions, the phrase was adapted to "that’s what ''he'' said".

References

External links

* *{{Wiktionary-inline, that's what she said Comedy catchphrases English phrases Quotations from film