Jersey Lillie responsible for age-old innuendo?

Friday 19 June 2020

Jersey starlet Lillie Langtry could be the originator of bawdy joke "that's what she said", according to a record dug up by fact-finding television show QI.

Born in Jersey in the 1850’s, Lillie went on to garner fame and fortune in London as a socialite and actress, but her influence may have left a more permanent mark on the British sense of humour.

The quip "as the actress said to the bishop", and its modern-day equivalent "that’s what she said", has long been used to flag up an inadvertent innuendo in otherwise polite conversation.

Now, QI have shared the story behind the saying "as the actress said the bishop" according to one version, featuring Lillie and a double entendre she exchanged with the Bishop of Worcester.

Pictured: Lillie sat for several portraits, including this one by Sir Edward Poynter. 

The record recounts that Lillie and the Bishop “were at one of those country house weekend parties,” and on the Sunday morning, before church “the bishop and the actress went for a stroll in the garden.” 

On their walk, “the bishop cut his finger on the thorn of a rose”. 

Later in the day, over lunch, Lillie enquired about his injury, asking: “How is your prick?” To which, the Bishop allegedly replied “throbbing”.

An older variant of the phrase ‘That’s what she said!’ is ‘...As the actress said to the bishop’. According to one version, this is the story behind the saying: pic.twitter.com/X9TZDfXGIK

— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) June 17, 2020

The record then simply states: “And the butler dropped the potatoes.”

The anecdote, posted on the programme’s Twitter page, has gained over 3,000 likes with many people reacting to the story online.

One user wrote: “’And the butler dropped the potatoes’ is the killer line for me. I don’t care if it’s true or not.”