English

Phrase

as the actress said to the bishop

1. used to highlight a sexual ambiguity in an innocent remark

   Heavens, that's a big one – as the actress said to the bishop.

   • 1976, David Widgery, The Left in Britain:

     The important thing was where you do it, not what you do (as the actress said to the bishop)

   • 1998, Timothy White, (Please provide the title of the work):

     "Oh, well," offered Andrews wryly, as she peeled a piece of fruit, "nothing like a hot banana — as the actress said to the bishop." She then apologized for the tacky sexual quip, explaining, "It just slipped out — as the actress said to the bishop."

   • 1999, Michael Sprinker, Ghostly demarcations: a symposium on Jacques Derrida's Spectres of Marx:

     He has, as the actress said to the bishop, been an unconscionably long time coming, […]

See also

• double entendre / double-entendre
• euphemism
• innuendo
• oo-er
• ooh, matron
• nudge nudge, wink wink
• that's what she said