The most important holiday in February has finally arrived. I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day and I’m sure as hell not talking about President’s Day: I’m talking, of course, about International ‘That’s What She Said’ Day.

“That’s what she said” is a phrase that adds sexual innuendo to an otherwise innocuous conversation, and it has been in the American vernacular for over 15 years. A typical usage might be to hear a friend or co-worker say “That was fast” in response to a quickly achieved task, only to be followed up by “that’s what she said” from someone else.

The ‘holiday’ was initially created as a Facebook event by John Hughes, an Engineering student from Central Washington University, and knowledge of International ‘That’s What She Said’ Day quickly spread by word of mouth via the social network to hundreds of thousands of users. At the time of this writing, Hughes’ had amassed 148,477 people who were willing to take part in his slightly warped holiday, many of which have taken the time to accurately translate the popular phrase into countless foreign languages (and permeating a significant portion of Facebook’s user base to boot). Participants are encouraged to work the term “that’s what she said” into conversations today as relevantly and often as possible.

While we may never know the exact origin of the phrase, one of the earliest, if not first, occurrences of “That’s what she said” in popular culture can be traced back to 1992 in the SNL sketch-turned-film, Wayne’s World:

[Holding Claudia Schiffer picture]
Garth: Hey, are you done yet? I’m getting tired of holding it.
Wayne: Yeah, that’s what she said.

Recently, the term has gained renewed popularity by usage in television shows such as King of the Hill, Family Guy, and, most prevalently, The Office.

Hughes also notes the planning of the holiday for February 15th, the day after Valentine’s Day, as strategic as it “[makes] your job an easy one.”

For Cowtown readers, the following are required viewing material on this most reverant of holidays:

Now go forth and tell others of this mighty thing, so that others may know of its glory.

(That’s what she said)

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