Said the actress to the bishop

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"That's what she said" redirects here. For other uses, see That's what she said (disambiguation).

"Said the actress to the bishop" is an informal (and usually vulgar) exclamation, said for humour in the form of a punch line after an inadvertent double entendre. The equivalent phrase in North America is "that's what she said".[1][2] Both phrases are examples of Wellerisms, a literal "turn" of a phrase, changing its meaning. The versatility of the phrase and its popularity lead some to consider it a cliché.[3]

History, background and variations[edit]



The phrase "as the girl said to the soldier" is recorded in a sound test for Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 film Blackmail.[5]

There is a very early recording by Len Spencer of the song "All Coons Look Alike to Me" from 1896.[6] After the introduction to the song there is the very suggestive line, "That's what she said, yeah", putting the origin of this one-liner very far back.

Kingsley Amis uses the line in his novel "Lucky Jim" (1954 chapter 12). An adulterous married woman [Carol Goldsmith] who is ambiguously interested in Jim Dixon says to him, "If you don't know what to do [about Christine Callaghan, another young woman Jim is attracted to, but who is involved with an artist son of Jim's academic boss] I can't show you, as the actress said to the bishop".




  3. ^ That's What She Said? Yeah, Give It A Rest The Verge. GQ Online
  5. ^ Nicholas Graham (2010-06-10). "Hitchcock's 'That's What She Said' Joke Is Its First Known Recording! (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. 
  6. ^ url=

External links[edit]