DOUBLE MEANING

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 620 words | Copyright

DOUBLE MEANING. Often deliberate AMBIGUITY in a word or other expression, in which one sense is usually immediately apparent and relevant, while the other usually has a humorous, clever, cynical, or other implication: for example, British advertising slogans Running water for you (Thames Water Authority) and London Weekend Television—the best shows. When the implication is risqué, the obsolete French phrase double entendre is often used, as for example for the warning in a 1990 advertisement, showing a syringe and an arm: ‘It only takes one prick to give you Aids.’ See ABBREVIATION, PUN.

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TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE MEANING." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE MEANING." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-DOUBLEMEANING.html

TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE MEANING." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-DOUBLEMEANING.html

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