actress

as the actress said to the bishop

A humorous expression used to add a sexual connotation to an innocuous phrase. A: "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch you there." B: "As the actress said to the bishop!" A: "Wow, that sandwich is huge!" B: "Yeah, I can barely put my hands around it." C: "As the actress said to the bishop!" A: "What are you doing? Just stick it in already." B: "As the actress said to the bishop!" A: "What are you, 12 years old?"

See also: actress, bishop, said, to

as the actress said to the pope

An aside that is used to create a humorous but lewd sexual innuendo out of something mundane or innocent that someone else has said. (The use of "actress" is because the innuendo always refers to a woman in a sexual situation.) Primarily heard in UK. A: "Wow, that sandwich is huge!" B: "Yeah, I can barely put my hands around it." C: "As the actress said to the pope!" A: "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch you there." B: "As the actress said to the pope!" A: "What are you doing? Just stick it in already." B: "As the actress said to the pope!" A: "What are you, 12 years old?"

See also: actress, pope, said, to

said the actress to the pope

An aside that is used to create a humorous but lewd sexual innuendo out of something mundane or innocent that someone else has said. (The use of "actress" is because the innuendo always refers to a woman in a sexual situation.) Primarily heard in UK. A: "Wow, that sandwich is huge!" B: "Yeah, I can barely put my hands around it." C: "Said the actress to the pope!"

See also: actress, pope, said, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

as the actress said to the bishop

used humorously to call attention to a sexual double entendre , especially an unintended one.

The cast of characters can be reversed without changing the meaning of the expression: as the bishop said to the actress .

2005 New Zealand Listener Some of Charles's antipodean witticisms— …‘it all became too big for me, as the actress said to the bishop’ – sounded several centuries old.

See also: actress, bishop, said, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

As the actress said to the bishop...

A phrase used to point out or emphasize that a remark had a risqué double meaning, whether or not it was intended. The phrase, first heard in Britain in the mid-20th century, contrasts a worldly actress and a very proper clergyman to whom such double meanings had to be pointed out. It also took the form of “as the bishop said to the actress,” “as the schoolmaster said to the schoolgirl,” and any number of other combinations. Mae West's repartees, such as replying to a man's saying, “I've heard so much about you” with “Yeah, but you can't prove it,” coming from almost anyone else would qualify for an “As the actress said to the bishop . . .”

See also: actress, said, to

Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price