Saturday, October 27, 2007

DOUBLE ENTENDRES

Life can be fun when we allow it. A sense of humor carries us such a long way. Double entendres (a word or phrase which has two different meanings, one of which is usually sexual or rude ) make communication richer, especially for adults to be able to talk over the heads of children, or intellectually challenged adults.

One of my favorites has been the response to someone saying, in a whining voice, "But I am trying." and I reply, "Yes, very."
Many are sent around as jokes on the Internet. Often they appear as headlines in newspapers, as: "Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case", or "Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers". The British are masters at it. Mike Hallett discussing missed snooker shots on Sky Sports: "Stephen Hendry jumps on Steve Davis's misses every chance he gets." or, "Jack Burnicle was talking about Colin Edwards' tyre choice on World Superbike racing: "Colin had a hard on in practice earlier, and I bet he wished he had a hard on now."

Sometimes languages are helpful. In England, to shag is the 'f-word'. In America, it is used to mean to chase after, as "I shagged my children." This would be enormously inappropriate to the ears of a Brit. An old boss of mine, in frustration, would hold both arms up as though tossing something in the air and say, "I throw up." A father might wink at his wife, within hearing of the children, and say, "I'm finding it too hard to stay up much longer."

The movie SHREK had some wonderful ones as did the very old cartoons by Bob Clampett whose writer's had a wonderful use of double entendres that made the parents' watching them tolerable while the kids didn't have a clue to the humor of them. Double entendres are insidious and ubiquitous. As with Easter eggs, you have to hunt for them.

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