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Craig White's Literature Courses double entendre |
 Lodgings to Let, an 1814 engraving featuring a double entendre. He: "My sweet honey, I hope you are to be let [made available] with the Lodgings!" She: "No, sir, I am to be let alone." |
Oxford English Dictionary. double entendre: A double meaning; a word or phrase having a double sense, esp. as used to convey an indelicate meaning.
etymology: French "double understanding," ambiguity
Wikipedia: A double entendre is a figure of speech or 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.
