actress

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!"

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!"

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!"

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 . . .”