that's what she said

English

Etymology

First attested in the early 20th century. "She" refers to the speaker's imagined sexual partner.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Phrase

that's what she said

1. (US, humorous, idiomatic) A joking retort that draws attention to the possibility of sexual innuendo in what was just said.

   Coordinate term: that's what he said

   • 2008 March 2, Ron Fletcher, “In the Internet Age, a few lessons about bad jokes, good taste”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 7 Apr. 2009:

     Some seemed bored and irritated by the priapic yahooism and overwillingness of peers to read a sexual double entendre into the most innocuous remark. "No matter what you say," said one student, "someone is going to respond with ‘That's what she said.’ "

   • 2008 November 24, Rick Broida, “Quick Tip: Increase the Font Size in Your Browser”, in PCWorld.com, retrieved 7 Apr. 2009:

     So this morning we pulled up a pumpkin-pancake recipe on the kitchen laptop. Just one problem: My wife couldn't read it from where she was mixing. "Can't you make it bigger?" she asked. (Go ahead, insert your own "that's what she said" joke here. No class.)

Translations

retort

• Arabic: هٰذَا مَا قَالَتْهُ (hāḏā mā qālathu), هٰذِهِ مَا قَالَتْهَا (hāḏihi mā qālathā)
• Danish: det sagde hun også i går
• Dutch: dat zei mijn vrouw vannacht ook
• Finnish: ...sano entinen likka! (as if continuing previous sentence)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sa brura (no)

• Spanish: eso fue lo que ella dijo
• Swedish: ...sade flickan.

See also

• innuendo
• as the actress said to the bishop
• nudge nudge wink wink
• I've never heard it called that before
• get one's mind out of the gutter