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A person who is not familiar with the hidden or alternative meaning of a sentence may fail to detect its innuendos, aside from observing that others find it humorous for no apparent reason.



Perhaps because it is not offensive to those who do not recognize it, innuendo is often used in sitcoms and other comedy considered suitable for children, who may enjoy the comedy while oblivious to its second meanings. Innuendo can also be used to make socially acceptable sexual humor. Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing used this ploy to present a surface level description of the play as well as a pun on the Elizabethan use of "nothing" as slang for sexual relations.



A triple entendre is a rare variation of a double entendre where a phrase can be understood in any of three ways. An example of this is the cover of the 1981 Rush album Moving Pictures. The title could be read to mean transporting or relocating wall paintings or photographs by a moving crew, pictures that invoke emotional (moving) reactions, or a literal "moving picture" (i.e. a film or movie). In fact the original back cover of the LP showed a film crew shooting a crowd being moved by movers moving moving pictures.



Comedian Benny Hill, whose television shows included straightforward sexual gags, has been jokingly called "the master of the single entendre".