Yeah I think part of the joke was Michael had latched on to an existing joke and kept using it in a setting where it wasn’t appropriate, especially since he was the manager.
Prior to the office, it was used in Wayne’s world gags on SNL (late 80s), and Johnny Carson used it before that (70s and 80s).
Apparently it originated from a British version, “said the actress to the bishop” that was used back in the early 1900s in music hall comedy and army banter.
Though the real joke is pointing out sexual innuendo and double meanings (both intentional and unintentional), which goes back at least as far as Shakespeare but is probably older than recorded history.
I feel like “that’s what she said” is older than the office, though that definitely (re)popularized it.
The office (US) came out in 2005, and I’m pretty sure I’d been hearing it before then. I could be wrong though, as that was twenty years ago.
Yeah I think part of the joke was Michael had latched on to an existing joke and kept using it in a setting where it wasn’t appropriate, especially since he was the manager.
Prior to the office, it was used in Wayne’s world gags on SNL (late 80s), and Johnny Carson used it before that (70s and 80s).
Apparently it originated from a British version, “said the actress to the bishop” that was used back in the early 1900s in music hall comedy and army banter.
Though the real joke is pointing out sexual innuendo and double meanings (both intentional and unintentional), which goes back at least as far as Shakespeare but is probably older than recorded history.
Oh yeah, my friends group and I were hitting “that’s what (s)he said” pretty hard in the nineties.