Double entendre
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A Double entendre or Innuendo 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 usually indecently sexual. Although a French term, the French generally say double entente or double sens for such phrases.
Most double entendres are sexual in nature. For example, consider the sentence "If a woman asks a man for a double entendre, he should always try to give her one." This double meaning has the innocent meaning to give her the example, and the second sexual meaning intending for the man to try to have sex with her. When innuendo is used in a sentence, it could go completely undetected by someone who was not familiar with the hidden meaning, and they 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.
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!". "Fnarr" has since become a popular exclamation in the UK.
Similarly, the cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-head frequently note double entrendres of the most trivial kind with such comments as, "huh-huh, he said wood; huh-huh".
Another classic double entendre is the title of Don McLean's song If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?.
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 vagina).
Attitudes to this kind of humour have changed enormously since the 19th century. In the Victorian theatre, innuendo was considered unpleasant and was not allowed. Particularly for the ladies in the audience. 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. There began to be some prosecutions. It was the job of the Lord Chamberlain to examine the scripts of all plays for decency.
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 wasn't offending anyone.
The blue, innuendo type of humour didn't transfer onto radio or cinema at that time but did eventually filter through from the late 1950s and 60s and, by the 1970s, had become standard.
In 1968 the office of the Lord Chamberlain ceased to have responsibility for censoring live entertainment.
