Talk:Double entendre/Archive 1

Archive 1

Why the accent in the title?

Surely that's wrong and the original title "Double Entendre" is correct? Brucelaidlaw 14:48, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

You are quite correct. It doesn't even have that accent in French. Unschool 15:53, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Gave her one

Changed "gave it to her" to "gave her one" in the example of a double entendre. That's the way I've always heard it said; I don't know if that's just a local variation, but I think it works better. If anyone disagrees, well, you know where the edit link is.

If a woman asks a man for an example of double entendre, he should always try to give her one. What is this supposed to mean? Dysprosia 11:00, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

try to give IT to her.....means try to have sex with her. Kingturtle 11:01, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Thought as much. This was just interspersed in the article, with no explanation that this is an example - I suggest it be left here. Dysprosia 11:03, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

In other words, the quote itself is proabbly meant to be a double-entendre, and is if Kingturtle's version is used:

If a woman asks a man for an example of double entendre, he should always try to give it to her.

Yes, but how appropriate is this double entendre in the article itself? There is already an example on a sexual double entendre, and I don't think we need another full example. Dysprosia 11:07, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Because it's a subtle, sublime, and self-referrential example. As long as we don't sacrifice accuracy, no reason not to have fun (and give the reader a smile). If you wish to more explicitly point out that it's an example, go ahead and just do it. orthogonal 11:17, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

If I had my druthers, I'd keep the "give it to her" example and omit the "I have a large one" example. The "give it to her" example is far more witty, an quick. Kingturtle 11:12, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Allow me. Dysprosia 11:13, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

"The large one" is easier to grasp, as it's not as slippery. I vote we leave both. orthogonal 11:18, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Do we really need both? Is it really best? Having both IMO gives the article a bit of a <ahem> phallic flavour... Dysprosia 11:24, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I find the double entendre example given in the intro to be confusing because it uses the phrase "double entendre" in the joke itself, which would require prior knowledge of what a double entendre is in the first place. The term should not be used in its definition, I think. Perhaps a better example should be placed there? --Poiuyt Man (talk) 08:24, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The phrase "gave her one" is weird. "One" is clearly referring to the double entendre. "It" is a more ambiguous term in this context. 24.215.253.143 15:45, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Viz joke? I don't get it

There is a cartoon strip in the English comic book Viz entitled "Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres", about a youngster who enjoys double entendres. When Finbarr detects a double entendre, the cartoonist renders his sniggers as "Fnarr fnarr!", a usage that has entered English slang.

Fnarr Fnarr? can someone explain? Kingturtle 11:10, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I didn't get it either :) Dysprosia 11:12, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Read more closely: "Fnar, fnarr" is the noise the character makes when he recognizes a double-entenre. The cartoonist made "Fnarr, fnarr" up, and his readership so loved it (or got such a warm smutty feeling from it) that the usage "entered English slang." It's like Beavis's & Butthead's "huh-huh" noise; wholly made up by Mike Judge or whomever, but embraced by his audience, and repeated, until I, who had never watched the cartoons, had often heard the noise, and understood the reference. orthogonal

Waitaminute...

Isn't a double entendre always risqué? The article is now suggesting a double entendre can be any ambiguous phrase, apparently, if the Logos information is anything to go by. Is that really a double entendre? JRM · Talk 23:08, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

Beavis & Butthead

The "wood getting hard" joke. Is this a double entendre ? I don't "get" the joke, maybe because to get it also requires some sort of cultural understanding of US speech that I don't have. If so, whilst this would be a double entendre, can this be made clear as another feature of them: i.e. locational nuances preventing understanding. The article is, after all, supposed to be clear, and not just a list of gags.--JRL 10:22, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

"Wood" is a slang term for an erection. A common phrase refers to "waking up with morning wood." Probably it's an American term. Similarly, one might say "I have a woody" (assuming one were male, and one was aroused, of course). There is probably more information at Erection.

FWIW, the only example that comes to my mind is in a movie that is set in the UK, with largely English characters (and perhaps cast). Of course, virtually all such movies are made for a US audience -- but using US colloquialisms that aren't shared? It strikes me as unlikely that this usage is US-only. Jmacwiki (talk) 04:32, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Whether or not the Beavis and Butthead example is a double entendre is, IMHO, debatable. I'm not sure if the King of the Hill refs qualify either, nor do I necessarily agree that innuendo is a synonym for double entendre.

Ultimately, it seems like this article is going to expose many of the differences between British and American English, particularly slang terms.

Innuendo

1. innuendo n. (pl. innuendoes or innuendos ) an allusive or oblique remark, typically a suggestive or disparaging one" (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary)
2. innuendo n. an allusive or oblique remark or hint, usu. disparaging. (The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English)

On the other hand:

1. double entendre n. (pl. double entendres pronunc. same) a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually indecent. (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary)
2. double entendre n. a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one usu. risqué or indecent. (The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English)

In other words, they're not the same. --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 11:30, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Innuendo isn't just British...

The article should make that obvious. It's not even primarily British.

Agreed! Usually I see a problem with articles having an "Americentric" bias, but here it's the opposite. I like British comedy as much as the next person, but really. Despite the examples from American comedy, there's a whole section on the usage of innuendo and double entendres in British comedy. This is hardly a phrase that is going to change meanings by country, so why the whole section devoted to Britcom? 4.238.27.206 06:32, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

There is also the portmanteau word insinnuendo - simultaneous meaning innuendo and insinuate. Kenneth Williams, in his Round the Horne days, was called a master of insinnuendo. (All this is very British, of course.) Hair Commodore (talk) 12:31, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Daily Show citation

What's with the following commented-out paragraph, immediately following the Bellamy Brothers example?

What does this have to do with double entendres? This question was caricatured by Mo Rocca in a 2001 report on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart regarding CNN's submission of six videotaped questions to Osama bin Laden, a report that hilariously ended with Rocca asking host Jon Stewart, "ticklemyasswithafeather?", which resulted in what Rocca called in his report, "devastatingly saucy effects."

It seems to be written only to make sense to someone who has actually seen the cited excerpt, although I can imagine what they might be trying to communicate. But it's not at all clear, which is important in an encyclopedia. If this text can't be salvaged as a useful addition to the article, it should just be deleted. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 04:05, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

a bit of griping from a french

ideally it should be "double entente" (double understanding/meaning). OK i've now said it. Jerome Potts 08:56, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Absolute true. But it isn't. Fortunately(?), too few of us Americans understand enough French to get confused by the error. Jmacwiki (talk) 04:37, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

What is strange about that expression is that it uses a verb as a noun. That sounds quite wrong to my french ears. Solsticedhiver (talk) 20:35, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

The Simpsons

I've removed the example from the Simpsons; "Anyone up for some penis?" is simply not a double entendre. Tesseran 01:31, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Children

Just out of curiosity, but does anyone really believe that most children (at least, school aged children) won't get the 'hidden' meaning in a double entendre? I would expect to find more double entendres in the conversation at a typical middle school (attempting to hide their discussions from the teachers, etc.) than at a typical office. MagiMaster 20:54, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

When it says "children," it means little kids, not middle- and high-schoolers. We're talking about kids before they hit the "let's-make-sex-jokes" age, so maybe like 9 or younger, maybe even 10 to 11 or younger

About Children And Interpritation

MagiMaster, the very basic idea of a double entendre is that something has two meanings (or more), and it's more likely for adults to have a larger vocabulary. If a child said, "I prefer hard ones." He may be refering to candy, or book covers, but an adult would perceive the other meaning, probably before they got the intended meaning. A child's double entendre would perhaps be something an adult would not know, IE media aimed at children that was released after said adult passed that age. If a kid made a joke about "Dumbo," I'd get it, because when I was a kid, Dumbo was out, but if they made a joke about "Blue's Clues" I'd probably miss the point. Miss the point could even be taken as a double entendre. ReignMan 03:34, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

• I'm just saying that a lot of the article seems to imply that the purpose of most double entendres is to hide adult meanings from children. (As to whether or not most adults have a bigger vocabulary than most children, it's debateable, but I won't argue.) It may just be TV's influence on me, but, taken out of context, I'd expect many kids (of certain ages) to at least snigger if someone said "I prefer hard ones." MagiMaster 20:01, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Copied Content

It seems that a large portion of this article is copied from this page: http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/double_entendre

Feeeshboy 16:08, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, that page is copied from Wikipedia. It says so right at the end of the article. --LarryMac 16:20, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, don't I feel smart? Feeeshboy 06:47, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Groucho Marx - Triple Entendre

There is a line in Marx's "African Safari" speech from Animal Crackers that goes "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed." This is a rare triple entendre - "they weren't developed" could refer to the photographs, the native civilization, or the girls (i.e. puberty). If this merits mention because of the tripartite meaning, then it should be included. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.2.165.10 (talk) 01:55, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

I think that a triple entendre may deserve mention, but definately not its own page. A "triple entendre" seems to be just a less accurate double entendre. Usually the two different meanings that are taken are the obvious meaning (which is usually clean) and then a vulgar, or sexual (dirty) meaning. If for some reason there are two clean meanings or two sexual meanings, I still see this as being the same thing. RitRat 17:25, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

I think triple entendre deserves its own page, primarily because of the wit necessary to create one! Martin C. Nagel 23:02, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

You can create a triple entendre, but this isn't one, because the "undeveloped nation" meaning wasn't intended and doesn't really work. That euphemism hadn't come into use at the time Animal Crackers came out (the term was still "backward nations" then), and even if it had, you don't apply that kind of "undeveloped" to persons -- naah, too much of a stretch.

If you want to see a genuine triple entendre, I'm pretty sure you can find some in Cole Porter's song lyrics in Kiss Me Kate; I seem to recall lines with an innocent meaning, a "straight" sexual meaning, and a gay sexual meaning hiding behind that. (But sadly, I don't recall them well enough to quote.) 66.241.73.241 (talk) 14:14, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

I fully agree with RitRat. Although it might deserve a mention, a triple entendre is simply a variant of the double. Requiring more skill is not a reason to have a separate page... Diablomarcus (talk) 19:39, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

I was bold and added a triple entendre section into double entendre, however, I did not change anything on the triple entendre page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by GeekyTwin (talk • contribs) 22:17, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

"Pussy" pun

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 young child or somone of low intellect 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).

Strange, I thought I had posted a comment about this paragraph some time ago, but apparently I hadn't. Anyway, I think this needs to be reworded, but I'm not sure how, exactly. Here in the United States, the word "pussy", when not followed by "cat", is almost always the sexual term, so the sexual meaning would actually leap to mind more readily than the literal meaning. An older child would certainly get the pun, and I'm not convinced that a typical person "of low intellect" would miss it either. Would the situation really be that different in Britain (even if "pussy" for "cat" is more common)? Even if so, I think it might be better to choose a pun that is easier for a child to miss. - furrykef (Talk at me) 11:17, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

The sexual meaning of the word "pussy" hasn't always had such prominence in the minds of Americans, and if I'm not mistaken only emerged as the primary meaning over the past several decades. There's no reason to assume that this evolution occurred in Britain as well, since until recently (like with the development of the internet and other manifestations of globalization) most countries have enjoyed a large degree of cultural autonomy, especially countries separated by large distances or geographical barriers. 71.61.64.113 19:16, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

It's neglected to mention the fact her name is, in itself, a pun on "Slow come" - another 'adult' joke kids wouldn't get, and could be 'overlooked' by those not seeking the sexual connotation (similarly - "Pea-cock", "Hump-free", "Rum-bold", "Look-ass"). As for "pussy", the understanding of the word to refer to a 'cat' and/or genitalia is well established for the English dating back to at least Chaucer if not before. However when it came to its use in the show the response by the creators was one of "Well she means her cat, what on earth did you think she was referring to?" intentionally calling into question the "debauched" state of mind of the person querying. There was no relative consideration for the child or low intellect person, it was purely a comic tool.--Koncorde 21:09, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

opposite of double entendre?

What is the opposite of a double entendre called? You know, like when a yes/no question is badly worded both answers can be taken as the same, such as:
"never smoked?"
'yes' can mean "yes, i've never smoked" or "yes, I have smoked"
'no' can mean "no i've never smoked" or "no, I have smoked"
"have you nothing to do?"
'yes' can mean "yes I have nothing to do" or "yes I have something to do"
'no' can mean "no I have nothing to do" or "no I have something to do"

What is its 'name' and do you think it needs a link in the double entendre page? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.7.73.24 (talk) 19:55, 10 May 2007 (UTC).

I may be wrong, but I doubt this has a name. This is more just a case of poorly worded questioning (unless perhaps done deliberately to trip someone up) than the intentional thing double entendre usually is. I suspect it is related the the fact that logically and "officially" (according to rules of grammar) a double negative is actually a positive, while colloquially the double negative is used as an intensifier. Although I don't really consider a statement like "No, I never smoked" to be a double negative, but rather an answer with an appended explanation. Wschart 14:47, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

I believe this is is like begging the question. Like a lawyer asking if you have stopped beating your wife. Begging the question, as an informal logical fallacy, isn't directly related to Double Entendre which is more humor related. Although you could argue that they are related as linguistical things. --Thuglifer 01:42, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

This phenomenon is really a side effect of using something called litotes. If the question is a litote, you get the ambiguity where yes and no could potentially mean the same thing. 76.15.21.49 02:31, 27 November 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.15.21.49 (talk)

The "Never smoked?" seems like no problem to me, since I can't imagine a native English speaker answering it just, "Yes." The affirmative answer that comes naturally would be "That's right," or "Correct," the negative, "No, I've smoked."

But I agree that "Do you have nothing to do?" is more interesting, and does give the responder pause between "Yes" or "No." But in American speech, at least, the question would almost certainly be "Don't you have anything to do?" and "Yes" and "No" answers to it aren't really ambiguous.

In any case, the ambiguous answer to "Do you have nothing to do?" has nothing to do with "begging the question" (which in turn has nothing to do with "When did you stop beating your wife?") or with litotes.

"Begging the question" is to try to prove a point with an argument that already assumes the point is proven, such as "I know God exists, because it says so in the Bible, which I can trust as the word of God." Nothing to do with this, and nothing to do with "When did you stop beating your wife?" "When did you stop beating your wife?" is, instead, a "loaded question." The premise that you do beat your wife has been loaded into the question "When did you stop?" and it's hard to make an answer without making some false confession like "I didn't stop -- ".

Once that terminology is corrected, though, I think Thuglifer is on to something. Although "Do you have nothing to do?" is probably not a deliberately loaded question, it's tough to parse quickly, and the responder is likely to have a similar feeling that no simple Yes or No answer is quite right.

"Litotes" has nothing to do with it, and a properly constructed litotes isn't really ambiguous, though people with a tin ear for English sometimes dismiss it as a double-negative error. It's actually a well-established rhetorical refinement, a way of qualifying an assertion. If I say, "That may not seem like much money to you, but that amount is not insignificant to me," the litotes "that amount is not insignificant" is not a clumsy or unnecessarily complicated or ambiguous way of saying "that amount is significant" -- it is (through long tradition) a compressed way of saying "that amount may seem insignificant to some, and I wouldn't say it's extremely significant, but it is significant just the same; it's somewhat significant." The device can be confusing to readers who aren't yet familiar with it, but variations on the litotes are actually pretty common and well understood.

So, back to "Have you nothing to do?" -- I don't know if there's any name for exactly this kind of confuser, but I wouldn't call it the opposite of a double entendre in any case, so I don't see why we need worry about it here.
--66.241.73.241 (talk) 13:44, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

For the record "litote" is not a word, and there is no such thing as "a litotes" either. Litotes is like logos and polis and the Argos and pathos, in being singular; it is like pathos and ketchup and sanity in not being countable.
--Jerzy•t 08:05, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Double sens

In modern French, one don't even say "Double sens" but more usually "sous-entendu" (undercurrent). But it depends on the context indeed. The delimitation between those 2 is pretty thin. But I guess this shall be reflected in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.230.102.224 (talk) 03:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I added "sous-entendu" as the more common french usage for double-entendre. Note that this whole situation is strange in multiple ways:

• double-entendre feels wrong in french, even if it feels right for a french who knows a little english.
• sous-entendu really means something with a hidden (or not so hidden) meaning. A phrase would be said to have a "double entendre" in english, but in french, it would probably described as with a "sous-entendu".
• sous-entendu is a lot more used than double sens. It is used with jokes, threats, innuendos, etc. because, often, the "double entendre" is used with a hidden (or again, not so hidden) meaning, understandable only by those "in the know". The only context that comes to mind when using "Double sens" would be more an intellectual examination of a phrase which can have a confusing meaning for its listeners, like enigmas.

So I believe this needs confirmation, but in the article, it should be clear the french usage is "sous-entendu" or "sous-entendre", and quite a lot less "double sens". --Paercebal (talk) 16:17, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

That's what she said

Does anyone know where that started? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.54.174.43 (talk) 03:09, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean "That's what she said, just before the bed broke."?
--Jerzy•t 06:51, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Hand & bush

I removed

Double entendres are also found in common sayings or aphorisms such as "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." where the innocent meaning is that it is better to be satisfied with what on has than to keep searching for better.

bcz

1. it is WP:OR,
2. the phrase is not normally a double entendre in the figure-of-speech sense, which the article states is its topic: an intentional double entendre
3. if we do want to discuss unintentional double entendres, the way to do so is not with some editor's favorite adolescent memory of throwing a teacher off stride, but literary examples, perhaps from Beavis and Butthead, where the writer's intentional double entendre is accomplished by portraying an unintentional one that our heroes recognize has occurred.

BTW, this is WP, and if anyone who can't stand to read

where "bush" has the second meaning "pubic hair", and "two [birds]" has the second meaning "two hands", with the combination being construed as "manual-genital sexual foreplay"

they should find another 'pedia. And thus anyone who thot it belonged in the article should have finished the passage.
(And am i mistaken in remembering the joke version of "a bird in the hand" as being "a hand in the bush is worth two birds"? You see, "bird" also means ... oh, never mind.) --Jerzy•t 06:51 & 07:51, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Other ambiguity

I removed

The 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.

This is not an article on ambiguity. If the definition in the lead sent fails to make clear what is excluded, specify what is excluded rather than give unexplained examples of it. If that is done, the examples -- let alone "see" refs -- will probably be superfluous, but in any case they can not substitute for specification.
--Jerzy•t 07:46, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Shakspeare

"Most double entendres however, carry a sexual connotation made famous by Shakespeare." This doesn't make sense as, to me, is states that Shakespeare made a specific sexual connotation famous and that most double entendres carry the connotation. Clearly that's not the case, but I really don't know what is meant. I'm sure that Shakespeare wasn't the first to think of double entendre nor give it a sexual intent. Rob Burbidge (talk) 14:25, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Double entendres, but no Rabelais

It is incomprehensible that a discussion of Double entendres should not mention François Rabelais, whose use of them is notorious! 81.102.15.200 (talk) 14:19, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Single entendres

Many of the so-called double entendres as spoken by such comedians as Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd both on the radio and on television, and in Carry On Films were so single that it was verging on the impssible to appreciate the more innocent of the two possible meanings.Hair Commodore (talk) 12:24, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Merge in triple

I suggest that triple entendre should be merged here in its entirety. That article consists of very little besides the examples, all of which are unreferenced; it's hard to see if they even really are triple entendres or if somebody thought of another meaning after the original statement. Any objections to this merge? --_{tiny plastic} Grey Knight ⊖ 15:23, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree. also, if there is a triple entendre article, why now a quadruple entendre article, etc. --76.205.116.100 (talk) 20:21, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Blackadder

Blackadder is a Brittish sitcom that makes a great use of double entendre, since the main character is sarcastic and ironic and would often make commentaries about the other characters' lack of intelligence that only himself can understmd. I think it should be noted in the article. Some examples are:

(Blackadder is taken to be shot, without showing fear)

Soldier: Blackadder, I must admire your balls.

Blackadder: (pause) Maybe later.

(George wants to paint Blackadder naked)

George: Sir, it's artistic licence. It's willing suspension of disbelief.

Blackadder: Well, I'm not having anyone staring in disbelief at my willie suspension.

There are a lot of examples. Just go to Wikiquote's article "Blackadder". --Midasminus (talk) 11:45, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

James Bond

Wouldn't "cunning linguist" be considered a pun rather than a double entendre? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.202.99.103 (talk) 08:32, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Neither. It is almost a homonym for "cunnilinguist" but without the context where either interpretation has a sensible, but differing meaning, the two are merely sound alike. In the context of a pun, then, the sentence would be both a pun and also a double entendre. - Michael J Swassing (talk) 20:48, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

I believe the original screenplay for "Goldfinger" had:
James Bond: "Who are you?"
Pussy Galore: "Pussy Galore."
James Bond: "Yes, I can see that, but what is your name?"
—141.150.23.85 (talk) 23:33, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Considerable rewrite needed

These days, whatever the historical usage, double entendre has acquired a primary meaning of a double meaning with a a risqué or sexual element - not just in "in some cases" as it says. And we want a bit of citation. 86.140.110.87 (talk) 00:28, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm, 86.140.110.87 must be an IP address for an editor of the OED. Oh wait, no, it's just unqualified pretension. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.222.133.124 (talk) 16:32, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

nothing

"the Elizabethan usage of "nothing" as slang for noticing"??? Although nothing may pun on "noting"/"noticing", nothing was also slang for female genitalia which is surely the more important pun. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Maltelauridsbrigge (talk • contribs) 18:51, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Thats what she said

Shouldn't this have its own page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.237.47.14 (talk) 20:22, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

The Temptations: a loan / alone

Please mention Talk:Papa Was a Rollin' Stone#All he left us was a loan in Double entendre/Archive 1#Songs. Jidanni (talk) 05:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Since it is disputed whether there is a double etendre, it is not a useful example. All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 06:23, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Agreed, it's clearly "alone"; "a loan" is a dubious interpretation of the lyrics at best. Powers ^T 14:32, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Clearly for you, but from me from day 1 it was always "a loan" and only one day when looking at web lyrics did I see some people thought "alone". Jidanni (talk) 23:31, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

People misinterpret ambiguous lyrics all the time; that doesn't make them double-entendres, which implies intent on the part of the songwriters. Powers ^T 12:56, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

File:Let alone2.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Let alone2.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on July 14, 2010. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2010-07-14. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! howcheng {chat} 17:50, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Picture of the day

An 1814 engraved cartoon of a double entendre, a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué, inappropriate, or ironic. In this cartoon, the man says to the woman, "My sweet honey, I hope you are to be let with the Lodgins!" To this, she replies "No, sir, I am to be let alone." Here, the word "let" can mean either "to leave" or "to rent", so her response can be read to mean either that she wants the man to stop bothering her, or that she is available for a separate fee from the lodging.Artist: Charles Williams; Restoration: Lise Broer

Morecambe and Wise

Great article, and not that you need many more examples, but the British comedy duo Morecambe and Wise perfected a variation on the double entendre in which the original phrase does not in fact have an obvious sexual meaning, but the response treats it as though it does. Their longest-serving writer Eddie Braben was a master of these constructions, a classic example being:

Frank Finlay (guest): I have a long felt want.
Eric Morecambe: There's no answer to that.

Other examples include "It's common knowledge that your wife has another," to which Morecambe (the more gag-oriented of the duo) replied "Now there's a novelty!" and:

Wise: I've extended my repertoire.
Morecambe: It didn't show from back there.

Morecambe: A director rang from Hollywood: 'Alfred' somebody.
Wise: Hitchcock?
Morecambe: He might have, I didn't ask.

These and other examples can be found on pp. 207 & 231 of Graham McCann's biography of the duo (Fourth Estate, 1998) Lexo (talk) 21:50, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Flintstones

This article already mentions an unintentional double entendre on the part of The Flintstones; maybe it would be worth mentioning that the show has used intentional double entendres too, like this one: [1]? Stonemason89 (talk) 23:00, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Non-doubles

In the Usage section, there are two examples that I think are not doubles entendres:

1) When the Cyclops Polyphemus says "No-man has hurt me!" he intends only one meaning, and the other cyclopes interpret his statement to have only one meaning. The meaning intended and the meaning taken are different, but that makes it a misunderstanding, not a double entendre. Not every misunderstanding is a double entendre.

2) Sir Toby in Twelfth Night , in reference to Sir Andrew's hair, says "it hangs like flax on a distaff; and I hope to see a housewife take thee between her legs and spin it off." This has only one meaning, like Benny Hill’s famous "single entendres." It is metaphorical (and bawdy) language, but not all metaphorical (nor all bawdy) language is double entendre. 70.179.92.117 (talk) 06:03, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

3) The example of the Soviet character's words in the Red Alert Game are not an example of double entendre; it is just a metaphorically sexualized description of a military event. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.80.68.219 (talk) 19:56, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

General Remark

Someone ought to tighten this up. Far too many of the so-called double entrendres discussed in this article are just silly examples of ambiguity. Just because something is stated in such a way to leave the meaning uncertain, does not make something a double-entendre. Double-entendre has to involve two distinct, but divergent meanings.

I also removed the uncited Bryan Adams attribution in the "Music" section, about the song "summer of '69". A songwriter trying to enliven a bad lyric 20yrs later by claiming it had a 2nd meaning, does not qualify the lyric as a double-entendre. Nothing in the lyrics suggests a sexual position. It's nostalgia for baby-boom idealism and the freedom of youth, nothing more. If the author of "99 bottles of beer on the wall" told us he always meant the word "wall" as a subtle wink at ancient Chinese architecture, we wouldn't then go credit him with historical allusion. So Bryan Adams doesn't get credit for a literary device in a boring song, merely because he claims to have intended one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blcarson (talk • contribs) 07:49, 29 April 2010

For a similar reason, deleted references to Brittney Spears songs. The cited examples (e.g. "If you see Amy" reinterpreted as "F-U-C-K me") are not double entendres, they are oronyms. A double entendre uses a word or phrase with different meanings; the cited examples dispense with different meanings of the same phrase in lieu of different phrases altogether which happen to sound similar. Such literary devices are oronyms; probably the most famous of which is "ice cream" and "I scream."71.201.156.95 (talk) 01:32, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

The example from Ozymandias is NOT a double entendre at all, but an example of ambiguity. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.2.239.222 (talk) 20:59, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

Old french expression ???

It would be nice if the assertion that pretends that "double entendre" used to be a french expression was supported with a fine reference. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.183.32.144 (talk) 07:38, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

(2011/10/12 - R. Broenck) I second this statement, having never heard of this before and being a vernacular French-speaker.

Conversely, I deleted the words *"to understand"* as a translation of "entendre" because that world only means "to hear", whereas "to understand" would be translated in French by "comprendre". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.18.172.125 (talk) 16:52, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

I hadn’t read this when I added "to understand" (again) a few days ago. I am a native French-speaker (sorry if my English is a bit peculiar) and I guarantee that "entendre" means both "to hear" and "to understand". I admit that, used as "to understand", "entendre" is now quite formal language, old fashioned to say the least, but this is definitely the case in "double entendre" where only the meaning "to understand" is conveyed. Please do go read the reference I gave before deleting "to understand" again — and then… don’t delete it. Dominique Meeùs (talk) 06:21, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

Which type? Double entrende or metajoke?

"The best thing about UDP jokes is that i don't care if you get them or not." I got this from a friend, and thus don't know who to source, but that's irrelevant. Is it a metajoke or a double entrende? 173.170.255.211 (talk) 19:12, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Definition & examples

Re:- a particular way of wording that is devised to be understood in either of two ways, having a double meaning. Typically one of the interpretations is rather obvious whereas the other is more subtle. The more subtle of the interpretations may convey a message that would be socially awkward, sexually suggestive or offensive to state directly. (The Oxford English Dictionary describes a double entendre as being used to "convey an indelicate meaning".). … … I question some of this, 1).isn't conveying an indelicate meaning, usually just a euphemism (so what does OED say distinguishes a DE) … … 2)the most common DE's tend to relate to sexual/toilet functions, body parts etc., isn't the essence of a DE that it can be understood SIMULTANEOUSLY in both interpretations, the lewder meaning being 'wrapped up' in a superficially innocent package, but which only the innocent would take at face value (this seems especially true about stage DEs, where there would be no point in them being there if most of the audience didn't 'get' the gag). I'm not even sure that the obvious/subtle distinction is true, unless one understands the innocent meaning to be the more subtle.

Also examples, some of these seem to be lewd references/jokes, but I'm not sure that they are all DEs, 'pink cadillac' isn't a DE unless some hearers are able to recognise the reference, if you need to read that there is a private meaning, it isn't a DE.

Also DEs (including in plays), can be un-intended on the part of the speaker, in plays this is usually meant to convey the foolishness or niavety of the speaker (obvious examples, 'pussy' and 'fanny' DEs in UK … others in restoration comedies). In life accidental use unintentionally conveys the same (Mrs Thatcher, UK PM, famously said approx. 'every Prime Minister needs to have a Willy' (Willy Whitelaw being her trusted deputy, but willy also being a very common, if childish euphemism for penis in the UK)). Are inadvertent DEs (in life or art), worthy of being recorded?Pincrete (talk) 12:11, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

McLean

Perhaps the Don McLean example should be explained. I didn't figure out the innocent meaning until I read it over again several times.

Easy enough, though explaining a joke of course ruins it. But then, we are not a joke collection. Amusingly enough, I've heard this title a hundred times without realizing it was a double entendre—I never got the racy meaning. How about that? JRM 01:49, 2004 Dec 27 (UTC)

Arrested Development

I find the paragraph about AD particularly funny, considering the show also features Tobias whose most recognizable trait is his constant and unintentional double entendres. Not to mention the writer means it to be an example outside British context and still being about British/American English differences (and I'd say any Brit would understand the double meaning of the word in question). I would change the example to one of Tobias' double entendres but I don't have an exact quote and I don't mean to step on the writer's toes here.