Word.ws English Dictionary

do you know the Bishop of Norwich

do you know the Bishop of Norwich phrase: can you pass the port, please?

Phrase

do you know the Bishop of Norwich?

  1. (UK) Can you pass the port, please?

Origin of do you know the Bishop of Norwich

Traditionally, after a vintage port has been decanted, the decanter is passed clockwise around the table until everyone has poured some. If the decanter should stall en route, it is considered poor etiquette to ask for it directly, so one must request it in a roundabout way: :— Do you know the Bishop of Norwich? :— No. :— He's a terribly good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port.

Questions about do you know the Bishop of Norwich

What does do you know the Bishop of Norwich mean?
Do you know the Bishop of Norwich means can you pass the port, please?
What part of speech is do you know the Bishop of Norwich?
Do you know the Bishop of Norwich is a phrase.

Words near do you know the Bishop of Norwich in the dictionary

  1. do you have any brothers or sisters
  2. do you have any pets
  3. do you have children
  4. do you have Wi-Fi
  5. do you kiss your mother with that mouth
  6. do you know the Bishop of Norwich
  7. do you know what I'm saying
  8. do you know who I am
  9. do you love me
  10. do you mind
  11. do you need an invitation

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: do you know the Bishop of Norwich (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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