innuendo
What is Innuendo? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
Innuendo Definition
An innuendo (in-YOO-en-doe) is an insinuating, indirect remark frequently associated with veiled sexual comments. However, it can also refer to something negative and degrading.
Innuendos are often used for comical effect and exist in both written and spoken media. Overall, detecting innuendo in writing and speech is the same: reading between the lines. This process can be done by mentally questioning a statement or, in conversation, requesting further explanation or justification of a statement.
The word innuendo comes from the Latin innuendum, meaning “to point or nod” or “to hint by signaling.”
Examples of Innuendo
Innuendos often appear in everyday life and convey different moods.
- Feigning jealousy to subtly criticize: “I wish I could just let my kids play games on the iPad all day like you do.”
- Suggesting there’s something more to a seemingly innocent situation: “Alison’s been spending a lot of time studying with Alex lately...”
- Giving a backhanded compliment: “You’re so confident wearing something that skimpy.”
Each sentence seems to say one thing while insinuating something negative or potentially scandalous, illustrating the subtle nature of innuendos.
Why Writers Use Innuendo
Authors use innuendo to indirectly comment on a situation or character, potentially referring to something impolite, indecent, or humorous. As a result, when used by a character, it can indicate much about them and their perspective on a situation or another character. When used in writing in general, innuendo can encourage the reader to engage with a text by analyzing the subtle language to find the hidden meaning between the lines.
Innuendo and Other Literary Devices
Innuendo vs. Double Entendre
Double entendres and innuendos seem similar in that they indicate something potentially offensive or suggestive, but they differ in how they accomplish this. While innuendos indirectly suggest something inappropriate, double entendres use wordplay to make this suggestion.
An example of double entendre would be the phrase that’s what she said. For example, responding to “You need to go faster” with “That’s what she said” is a suggestive way to point out the double meaning of the previous statement, which was innocent on its own.
Innuendo vs. Euphemism
Euphemisms are rather different from innuendos in that, while innuendos are suggestive in nature, euphemisms exchange impolite or offensive language for a more polite version. An example of a euphemism is using gone to a better place to refer to someone’s death.
Innuendo in Pop Culture
Innuendo in TV, Film, and Music
Innuendo is present in all forms of entertainment. In these cases, innuendo often functions exactly the same as in writing and conversation, though, in film and television, these innuendos may be visual in nature. Disney films in particular are full of visual innuendos. One example is the toy Legs from Toy Story, which comprises a pair of Barbie legs and a fishing hook to visually insinuate a hooker.
Music typically uses innuendo in the same fashion as it appears in writing. For example, in Kelis’s song “Milkshake,” she uses the word milkshake to indirectly refer to sex appeal.
Innuendo in Pantomime and Victorian Burlesque
Pantomime and Victorian burlesque use mild sexual innuendo for skits and shows. Victorian burlesque, a form of theatrical parody, derives from pantomime, which is a form of musical comedy. Both involve slapstick comedy, jokes, singing and dancing, and crossdressing, and much of the humor is risqué.
Innuendo in Victorian Literature
Victorian literature made frequent use of innuendo because societal notions of propriety meant sexual references had to be subtle enough to protect Victorian sensibilities. Much of this innuendo was depicted as sexual frustration or female dominance. Many Victorian heroines challenged marriage and gender norms in charged scenes with men that never advanced too far, leaving a sense of unfulfillment.
Examples of Innuendo in Literature
1. William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 151”
This sonnet is one of Shakespeare’s bawdy poems, and it makes use of innuendo:
My soul doth tell my body that he may
Triumph in love: flesh stays no further reason
But rising at thy name doth point out thee
As his triumphant prize.
In the sonnet, Shakespeare discusses the difference between sexual and spiritual love. For the instances he discusses sexual love, he relies on innuendo to emphasize the differences.
2. Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”
“Goblin Market,” it could be argued, provides examples of accidental innuendos. One is evident as the goblins attempt to shove fruit into a resistant Lizzie’s mouth:
Lizzie utter’d not a word;
Would not open lip from lip
Lest they should cram a mouthful in:
But laugh’d in heart to feel the drip
Of juice that syrupp’d all her face,
And lodg’d in dimples of her chin,
And streak’d her neck which quaked like curd.
Although Christina Rossetti denied sexual references in her work, scholars often interpret the poem with sexuality in mind, especially considering the many accidental innuendos related to temptation and pleasure present in the text.
Further Resources on Innuendo
Britannica has a video on innuendo and double entendre.
Gordon Williams’s A Dictionary of Sexual Language and Imagery in Shakespearean and Stuart Literature describes a few literary instances of sexual innuendo.