As the actress said to the bishop

Posted by John sword on October 13, 2001

In Reply to: As the actress said to the bishop posted by john sword on October 13, 2001

:
: Miss Margot Charlton at the Oxford English Dictionary Word and Language Service [OWLS]advises me as follows:
: "I very much doubt that anyone can claim exact knowledge of the origin ..... the earliest example we have discovered ..... dates from 1935, but it is highly likely that the phrase was used in speech long before this written version appeared".
: The writtn version referred to is noted in the 20-volume OED as from Saint in New York by Leslie Charteris.
: The definition of the phrase is: a catch-phrase mischievously implying a sexual innuendo in a preceeding remark.