Said the actress to the bishop
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
"Said the actress to the bishop", or "as the actress said to the bishop" is an informal (and occasionally vulgar) exclamation, usually said for humour after an inadvertent use of a double entendre. For example, if someone says "That's a big one", another could add "...as the actress said to the bishop!"
It is said in the style of a punchline, comically implying that the original double entendre was merely the second-from-last line in a long, rude joke. On occasion, the term is swapped when appropriate to "said the bishop to the actress", or "as the bishop said to the actress".
The phrase is an example of a Wellerism, a literal "turn" of a phrase, changing its meaning.
Whether an original joke existed involving an actress and a bishop is not known.