Double entendre
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A double entendre is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. The first, literal meaning is an innocent one, while the second meaning is often ironic or risqué and requires the hearer to have some additional knowledge. Although an expression made of French words, it is not correct modern French; the French say double sens ("double sense [or meaning]") for such phrases.
The risqué, often sexual, element is central to most people's understanding of what a double entendre is; indeed the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as 'A double meaning; a word or phrase having a double sense, especially as used to convey an indelicate meaning'. An example is: "A woman walked into a bar and asked for a double entendre, so the barman gave her one." — the sentence could mean either that the barman gave her an example, or that he had sexual intercourse with her. Expressions may contain other forms of ambiguity, famous examples being the use of the word Logos in the Gospel of John and the phrase "Let him have it" allegedly said by Derek Bentley (see those articles for further details), but they would not normally be classed as double entendre.
When innuendo is used in a sentence, it could go completely undetected by someone who was not familiar with the hidden meaning, and he or she would find nothing odd about the sentence (aside from other people finding it humorous for seemingly no reason). Perhaps due to the fact that innuendo is not considered offensive to those who do not "get" the hidden implication, it is often prevalent in sitcoms and other comedy which would in fact be considered suitable for children. Children would find this comedy funny, but because most children lack understanding of the hidden implication in innuendo, they would find it funny for a completely different reason to most adult viewers.
Use
One of the earliest examples of double entendre in American culture was the late 19th-century vaudeville act, the Barrison Sisters. They danced, raising their skirts slightly and asking the audience: "Would you like to see my pussy?" After an enthusiastic response, they would raise up their skirts, revealing live kittens secured over their crotches.
In the British comic book Viz there runs a cartoon strip entitled "Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres", about a youngster who enjoys double entendres. Immediately after hearing someone crack a double entendre, Finbarr knowingly sniggers "Fnarr fnarr!". This strip often inverts the concept of double entendre, with lines that are apparently blatantly sexual, but which can be interpreted quite innocently.
Three's Company, a sitcom farce about a young man living platonically with two young women, aired on ABC from 1977–84. The show's main character, Jack Tripper, (John Ritter) led his two single, attractive female roommates through innuendo-laden, slapstick-prone misadventures. Though he never broke his vow of keeping a "strictly platonic" relationship with his roommates (the three were really best friends who always looked after each other), the series was rife with double entendres suggesting they were doing much naughtier stuff.
A more recent example of the usage of double entendres outside the British context is the American sitcom Arrested Development. The lead character, Michael Bluth, is often led into scenarios of misunderstanding due to his misinterpretations of double entendres. One such episode was when his British girlfriend called him a "pussy" as a term of endearment, which he misinterpreted as her thinking he was lacking in masculinity.
Another classic double entendre is the title of The Bellamy Brothers' song "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me?", where "it" is referring to either the statement or the body in question. The title of this song comes from an episode of the British comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, where a man uses a Hungarian to English phrasebook around England, precipitating multiple instances of double entendres and single entendres intended to masquerade as double; however, collegiate use of the "hold it against me" phrase long predated the Python sketch.
British comedy
Sexual innuendo is common in British sitcoms and radio comedy such as I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. For example, in Are You Being Served?, Mrs. Slocombe makes frequent references to her "pussy", such as "It's a wonder I'm here at all, you know. My pussy got soakin' wet. I had to dry it out in front of the fire before I left." A child might find this statement funny simply because of the references to her pussy cat, whereas an adult would detect the innuendo ("pussy" is sexual slang for vulva).
Innuendos were not only used in modern times — they have existed since Shakespearean times. Indeed, Sir Toby in "Twelfth Night" is seen saying, in reference to Sir Andrew's hair, that "it hangs like flax on a distaff; and I (Sir Toby) hope to see a housewife take thee (Sir Andrew) between her legs and spin it off"; the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet says that her husband had told Juliet when she was learning to walk that "Yea, dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit"; and in Hamlet, Hamlet torments Ophelia with a series of sexual puns, viz. "country" (similar to "cunt").
Attitudes to this kind of humour have changed enormously since the 19th century. In the Victorian theatre, innuendo was considered unpleasant, particularly for the ladies in the audience, and was not allowed. In the Music Hall, on the other hand, innuendo was in constant use in songs.
In the 20th century, there began to be a bit of a crackdown on lewdness, including some prosecutions. It was the job of the Lord Chamberlain to examine the scripts of all plays for indecency.
Nevertheless, some comedians still continued to get away with it. Max Miller, famously, had two books of jokes, a white book and a blue book, and would ask his audience which book they wanted to hear stories from. If they chose the blue book, it was their own choice and he could feel reasonably secure he was not offending anyone.
The blue, innuendo type of humour did not transfer to radio or cinema at that time, but eventually and progressively it began to filter through from the late 1950s and 1960s. Particularly significant in this respect were the Carry On films and the BBC radio series Round the Horne. Spike Milligan, writer of The Goon Show, has remarked that a lot of blue innuendo came from servicemen's jokes, which were understood by most of the cast (who had all served as enlisted soldiers) and many of the audience, but which would pass over the head most of the BBC producers and directors, who were mostly "Officer class".
In 1968, the office of the Lord Chamberlain ceased to have responsibility for censoring live entertainment. By the 1970s innuendo had become widely pervasive across much of the British media.
See also
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