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06 May 2009

Double-Entendre

Edwina: "My taxi had a minor accident yesterday."

Me: "Oh. That's terrible."

(Meanwhile my disobedient mind is saying: "Yes - but I didn't clarify which part I thought was terrible. And it's not 'taxi' or 'yesterday'.".)

3 comments:

alexandra s.m. said...

Hee! Hee!Hee!
Isn't it wild how the expression "double-entendre" is never used in French?
The closest to it is a "quiproquo" which only means that type of misunderstanding ( Feydeau's plays are full of these! ) in French and other latin languages.( I used that later expression for years until I found out the meaning was different in English which could have lead the English speakers to some pretty bizarre "double-entendre"!) ;-)

xox

SinBBQ said...

really? i never knew this wasn't used at all in french? in this case alexandra i just wanted to use double-entendre for its literal meaning, as opposed to imply one sexual meaning. and who is this feydeau? if you're going to reference him then you need to recommend a play to read. even if i was course (as i am) and told edwina to get fucked, I could only have one possible meaning.

alexandra s.m. said...

okay, okay! => Le dindon, On purge bebe, Occupe toi d'Amelie!...
Georges Feydeau, great vaudevillien, 2nd part of the XIX ...