The above was seen on a church sign and a perfect example of a Double Entendre!
A Double Entendre is a word or phrase which can be taken at least two different ways. Typically one meaning is obvious even to me and the other is actually usually sexual in nature. Even jokes go ****WHOOSH***** right over the top of my head. Their popularity comes from the fact that if you don't get it, you won't realize something dirty just happened. (I will admit the sign had me going the sexual way and not the innocent way).
Disney is famous for double entendres - they keep their movies or shows 'family friendly' by allowing children to appreciate the joke on one level but most adults enjoy it an another level all together (note I said most adults). I am one of those who doesn't get it until I have it pointed out to me. Maybe because I am so innocent and think such pure thoughts all the time.
I remember the first time I watched Shrek - I got that one right away. I couldn't believe my nieces and nephews raving about it. I looked at them like they sprouted horns and had grown up or knew a whole lot more than I did at their age. Then they talked about the jokes as they understood them and I realized we weren't even on the same page let alone saw the same things.
FYI - a trivia fact: If someone makes a Double Entendre, but the recipient fails to see it as anything other than a literal statement, it becomes Entendre Failure. If someone makes a perfectly innocent statement that others interpret as a Double Entendre anyway, it becomes an Un Entendre. Ummm....I am usually in the failure category!
Here are some examples:
1. Groucho Marx: Animal Crackers gives him the line "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed." and has him present Margaret Dumont with a large wooden box. While describing it as "a magnificent chest", he accidentally points at her torso.
2. Shrek's line "Do you think maybe he's compensating for something?", upon seeing Lord Faarquad's towering castle, could both be interpreted as Faarquad compensating for his height or... something else. Of course, "Lord Faarquad" itself sounds like something else entirely... Well, Faarquad's face was modeled after then-CEO Michael Eisner, and his name sounds a lot like a popular nickname that Disney employees had for Eisner at the time... So Yeah.
3. Three words: Bond. James Bond. (this is one I had to have explained to me)
4. "Kate and Leopold": the man announcing the Brooklyn bridge; "And in the future I believe men will be judged by the size of their erections!"
5. "Mr and Mrs Smith" are a little ambiguous about just how many:
Mr. Smith: I don't exactly keep count, but I would say... high fifties, low sixties. I've been around the block, but you know the important thing is—
Mrs. Smith: Three hundred and twelve.
Mr. Smith: Three hundred and twelve? How?
Mrs. Smith: Some were two at a time.
(For those not in the know: they were discussing how many people they'd killed, not slept with. Yeah I was one not in the know - hubs explained it to me.)
6. "Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft!"
7. "Rules of Engagement" features more than a few, usually delivered by Russell. However, one of the funniest episodes features a woman who speaks in nothing but double entendres, seemingly without realising what she is doing, and this drives Russell nuts. Her best effort occurs when she is talking about the new nightclub she is starting:
"You guys should totally check out my opening. It takes a while for things to warm up down there, so try not to come too early."
8. "Two And A Half Men" is also fond of using double entendres, sometimes excessively, which shows in this example of Charlie talking to Herb in the garden.
Charlie: You know, Herb, that is a fine, fine hat.
Herb: Gotta wear it. Otherwise I freckle like a banana.
Charlie: Well... I wouldn't want your banana to get freckled.
Alan: Let's go, Charlie.
Charlie: Hang on! Hang on. We're having a real interesting conversation here. Hey Herb, tell Alan what you told me about how you plant seeds.
Herb: Well, first I make sure the soil is moist.
Charlie: Uh-huh. And tell him how you do that.
Herb: Well, I just stick my finger in the old Mother Earth. If it comes up dry, I just whip out my hose and give it a good spritz.
Charlie: And then?
Herb: And then I carefully plant the seed in the soil.
Charlie: Carefully? Why carefully?
Herb: Because if you just fling that stuff around, half of it's wasted!
Charlie: You hear that, Alan? If you fling your seed around it gets wasted.
Alan: Fascinating. Let's just go.
Charlie: Now hold on, hold on... How do you feel about bushes, Herb?
Herb: Well, I like a full bush. The way God intended.
Charlie: I like 'em trimmed. What about you, Alan?
Alan: We're going! Bye Herb.
9. Jimmy Buffett has admitted that he specifically wrote his song "Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw", which is about, well, getting drunk and screwing, because he was sick and tired of hearing double entendres in other people's songs.
10. The Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now" is just one big Double Entendre from start to finish.
"I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger, defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me!"
11. Harry Potter fans have found dozens of unintentional (and some intentional) innuendos:
"What d'you mean, I'm not brave in bed?" said Harry, completely nonplussed.
There was a groan of bedsprings, and Harry's mattress descended a few inches as George sat down near his feet. "So, got there yet?" said George eagerly.
"He's having a go at my mother!" Seamus yelled.
"I thought not," said Snape, watching him closely. "You let me get in too far. You lost control."
"Manners, Potter," said Snape dangerously. "Now, I want you to close your eyes." Harry threw him a filthy look before doing as he was told. He did not like the idea of standing there with his eyes shut while Snape faced him, carrying a wand.
He was on all fours again on Snape's office floor.
"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?" said Snape smoothly. "Wand out, Potter."
Harry moved into his usual position...
He came quickly, as if a white flag had come out of his wand.
Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets to find Ginny, his future wife. And has to fight a giant snake with a legendary sword. He ends the episode by flying out of a deep shaft, with Ginny hanging on to his leg.
"She tasted disgusting, worse than Gurdyroots! Okay, Ron, come here so I can do you."
12. In "Get Smart", The Chief mentions that they need to employ a new agent, unknown of KAOS who's acquired a list of all CONTROL agents and is eliminating them.
Larabee: Let me out there, sir, I have no problem exposing myself.
Agent 99: Do you ever think before you speak?
Larabee: No, I just whip it out there. Seems to work best.
There are so so many more. Do you have any good ones?
