Double Entendre - Academic Mode

Definition of Double Entendre
A double meaning is a literary device that can be defined as a phrase or a rhetorical figure that can have multiple meanings, interpretations or two different meanings, or that can be understood in two different ways. "It conveys a bit of a delicate meaning." The first meaning in a double sense is usually straightforward, while the second meaning is ironic, daring or inappropriate.

Examples of double meanings in literature
Double meanings are used in literature, everyday life, movies, magazines and newspapers to criticize and provide entertainment sometimes to make people laugh. It is widely used for innuendo and irony. William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer have used double meanings in their works.

a good institution, but I'm not ready for an institution. "(Mae West)

The word 'institution' in connection with marriage has two meanings here. One, refers to marriage as an important custom of a society.Two, marriage is something that will cause an individual to go to a mental institution.

Example 2: Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare)
Nurse: "God, you good morning, gentlemen."
Mercutio: "God, you good cave, beautiful gentle woman."
Nurse: "Is it a good cave?"
Mercutio: "That's no less, I tell you; because the snappy pointer on the dial is now shortly before noon. "
Nurse:" Out on yourself! What kind of man are you! “

The audience may wonder why the nurse reacted negatively when Mercutio clearly indicated the time he was saying something completely different ... something that has sexual meaning: bawdy, which means" lustful ", and prick, which means" penis. " "means.

Example 3: Are you served (by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft)
Mrs.Slocombe: "Before we go any further, Lord Rumbold, Miss Brahms and I would like to complain about the condition of our drawers. They're a positive shame. "
Mr. Rumbold:" Your what, Mrs. Locombe? "
Mrs. Locombe:" Our drawers. . And it's always the same in wet weather. ”
Mr. Rumbold: "Really ..."
Ms Locombe: "They sent a man who put beeswax on them, but that made it worse."
Mr. Rumbold: "I'm not surprised."
Miss Brahms: “I think they need sandpaper.”

Underwear and the sliding part of a cabinet (where items are placed) are called “drawers.” You can't help but laugh when you think of drawers as underwear, and he hears the characters say that their drawers are "glued" and therefore "a real disgrace", and when a man "... puts beeswax on them," that "... made it worse. he closed the door with a huge stone wheel. When the cyclops asks for his name, he tells him that his name is "Nobody" and then plans with his surviving soldiers to blind him with a hot, knife-sharp log. When they succeed, the Cyclops screams at the top of his lungs saying, "No one has hurt me. No one is going to kill me."

Here, "Nobody" has been used as a double meaning, as it has a double meaning. On the one hand, it means that "Nobody" who is Ulysses has blinded him while on the other hand it means that nobody has done this to the Cyclops. The meaning is usually to articulate a thing in a perfect and indirect way. This is generally an insult or innuendo. Shakespeare used this device to add humor to his work. If the audience is able to understand the different meanings that the actors or characters are. Trying to convey, the double meaning is sure to elicit laughter or present a certain suggestion.