Some of the earliest double entendres are found in the Exeter Book, or Codex exoniensis, at Exeter Cathedral in England. The book was copied around 975 AD. In addition to the various poems and stories found in the book, there are also numerous riddles. The Anglo-Saxons did not reveal the answers to the riddles, but they have been answered by scholars over the years. Some riddles were double-entendres, such as Riddle 25 ("I am a wondrous creature: to women a thing of joyful expectation, to close-lying companions serviceable. I harm no city-dweller excepting my slayer alone. My stem is erect and tall––I stand up in bed––and whiskery somewhere down below. Sometimes a countryman's quite comely daughter will venture, bumptious girl, to get a grip
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The most famous of these may be her use of the word "queynte" to describe both domestic duties (from the homonym "quaint") and genitalia ("queynte" being the root of 'cunt', a vulgar English word for …show more content…
Sometimes, it is unclear whether a double entendre was intended. For example, the character Charley Bates from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist is frequently referred to as Master Bates. The word "masturbate" was in use when the book was written, and Dickens often used colourful names related to the natures of the characters.
The title of Damon Knight's story To Serve Man is a double entendre which could mean "to perform a service to humanity" or "to serve a human as food". An alien cookbook with the title To Serve Man is featured in the story which could imply that the aliens eat humans. The story was the basis for an episode of The Twilight Zone. At the end of the episode the line "It's a cookbook!" reveals the truth.
Stage performances[edit]
Flax on a
The most famous of these may be her use of the word "queynte" to describe both domestic duties (from the homonym "quaint") and genitalia ("queynte" being the root of 'cunt', a vulgar English word for …show more content…
Sometimes, it is unclear whether a double entendre was intended. For example, the character Charley Bates from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist is frequently referred to as Master Bates. The word "masturbate" was in use when the book was written, and Dickens often used colourful names related to the natures of the characters.
The title of Damon Knight's story To Serve Man is a double entendre which could mean "to perform a service to humanity" or "to serve a human as food". An alien cookbook with the title To Serve Man is featured in the story which could imply that the aliens eat humans. The story was the basis for an episode of The Twilight Zone. At the end of the episode the line "It's a cookbook!" reveals the truth.
Stage performances[edit]
Flax on a