# Term for unintentional sexual innuendos? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349 "2015-03-19T01:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Umbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Umbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/1 "2015-03-19T01:40:01Z")
I remember three examples in my life, in which I became the perpetrator of remarks that sound like “sexual innuendos” without realizing it before the people all around me laugh loudly. Example 1: In high school psychology class, 11th or 12th grade, we were learning about sleep and dreams. The teacher wanted us to put different sleep-related topics and concepts on the chalkboard, and I suggested “wet dreams”. There was an immediate roar of laughter. To be honest, I only suggested “wet dreams”, because I thought it was related to dreams, and I really hadn’t learned anything on the web about it since 9th grade health class. Yeah, I did have a vague sense that it was sexual and thought it had something to do with nocturnal male ejaculation and possibly concurrent sexual fantasies, not really something to warrant full-blown laughter. Example 2: In high school sociology class, the teacher was just chatting with the students, and somehow a conversation popped up about one student intending to baby-sit the teacher’s kids and provide a safe, nurturing environment. Well, I suggested that the student could play board games, because I enjoyed playing checkers and chess. Apparently, my suggestion was interpreted as sexual, because “playing board games” in that sociology class meant “having sex” due to the teacher’s fast-forwarding a sex scene from a video or movie and then calling the skipped scene as “playing board games”. I should have just specifically said “playing checkers”. Grrr… Example 3: Recently during Chinese New Year, my parents and I went to a party. The party was mainly for middle-aged folks, because the youngsters (one high school student, one elementary school student, two college students, and one college graduate) were in the living room with nothing to do but talk. The two college students were both male, roommates, and had been best friends since high school. They also intended to go to medical school together. I was bored, so I decided to start up a conversation about future plans and stuff. I asked him about what he and his roommate do in their free time. He just said “seme and uke”. Of course, I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked, “What’s that?” He said “giving and receiving” and explained one of the words meant receiving and the other meant giving. Completely clueless, I asked him, “Giving and receiving what?” He did not reply. The high school student seemed to have gotten the message and probably blushed when she thought “seme and uke” had something to do with sex, which then made me suspect that it was something related to sex as well. People tend to behave _very oddly_ around sexual topics. The party was not very fun, because the youngsters (excluding me) loved to text on their phones, and I envied my parents’ generation, because they had a more face-to-face conversation at the party. To be honest, I can’t tell if I actually made a remark perceived to be sexual innuendo, or if my classmates or people from my generation are just so sexually excited that they’ll perceive anything to be a sexual innuendo. Anyway, is there a term for unintentional sexual innuendos? ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/2 "2015-03-19T02:07:53Z")
I think “unintended” and “innuendo” are mutually exclusive concepts. So, to answer your question, no. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/3 "2015-03-19T02:16:28Z")
I don’t have a single word for it, but maybe you could call it a that’s-what-she-said? In some cases, a Freudian slip? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/4 "2015-03-19T02:56:40Z")
Add this phrase to anything, and it becomes sexual: “…if you know what I mean…” ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/5 "2015-03-19T03:09:48Z")
If you haven’t figured it out, the “seme” is the “top” and the “uke” is the “bottom”. The terms come from Japanese yaoi (stories featuring gay boys or young men) manga or anime. Sounds like they were trying to make a sexual innuendo and it flew completely over your head. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/6 "2015-03-19T03:33:56Z")
There’s [**double entendre**](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/double-entendre), but that’s intentional. Unintentional double entendre? But 10 syllables is a tad long. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/7 "2015-03-19T03:52:33Z")
Boner? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/8 "2015-03-19T04:44:21Z")
[Innuendo Bingo](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Innuendo+Bingo) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/9 "2015-03-19T10:05:40Z")
I’ve unnuendo but I don’t think it’s a dictionary word, yet. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/10 "2015-03-19T21:01:15Z")
Madame Swempski: I don’t like this innuendo. Groucho: That’s what I always say: love flies out the door when money comes innuendo. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/11 "2015-03-19T21:54:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Boner? This…is deserving of much honor. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/12 "2015-03-20T02:06:22Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > There’s [**double entendre**](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/double-entendre), but that’s intentional. > > Unintentional double entendre? But 10 syllables is a tad long. Double entendre is the right answer. There’s nothing in the definition that says it has to be intentional. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/13 "2015-03-20T04:02:34Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Boner? In grade school, our 6th/7th/8th grade math teacher, a guy that reminded me of Perry Mason’s PI Paul Drake, liked to regale us with stories of his AF days, and other crap. As he was describing one person’s major goof-up, he said, “… _he really pulled a boner_ …”, and you could feel the room on the edge of bursting with all the stifled laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/14 "2015-03-20T13:12:27Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’ve unnuendo but I don’t think it’s a dictionary word, yet. This needs to be a word, thank you. I’m quite good at making unnuendoes. :rolleyes: Of course, these can be amplified in mixed-language situations, as per Umbridge’s tale. Many people have had a laugh between Americans and English people speaking of “rubbers” (condom or erasers), “pants” (trousers or underwear), or “fanny” (innocent or explicit reference to what one sits upon). And I’m sure I’m not the only French student who got confused about “[baiser](http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/g/baiser.htm).” Sometimes they can be part of a malapropism. Saw an article awhile back about antique dealers advertising “French Prevential” beds and “naughty pine tables,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/15 "2015-03-20T16:21:11Z")
Speaking of false cognates, Spanish has “embarazar” (lit. “to impregnate”) leading to “estoy embarazada” for “I’m pregnant” but which is very easy for us gringos to blurt out when trying to fuddle our way into explaining that we’re embarrassed … which rarely winds up with the speaker ending up LESS embarrassed than before. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/16 "2015-03-20T17:55:43Z")
“Unintentional sexual innuendo” is known as “an innocent remark.” In the three examples you cited, “wet dreams” and “seme and uke” are out and out sexual terms, no innuendo about them. The second example, about “playing board games,” would rise to the level of sexual innuendo, and your classmates took it as such, but I wouldn’t characterize it as anything more than an innocent remark because you were not thinking of the secondary meaning that phrase has for your classmates. The same applies to the question of your question to the med students, unless you were trying to ask about their sexual practices, or imply as much. I am taking the position that innuendo requires intention, unlike “double entendre”. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-unintentional-sexual-innuendos/715349/17 "2015-03-20T23:25:02Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Speaking of false cognates, Spanish has “embarazar” (lit. “to impregnate”) leading to “estoy embarazada” for “I’m pregnant” but which is very easy for us gringos to blurt out when trying to fuddle our way into explaining that we’re embarrassed … which rarely winds up with the speaker ending up LESS embarrassed than before. 😃 Are embarrass and embarazar still considered to be false cognates since embarrass is derived from embarazar? > **[Embarrassment](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embarrassment)** > > Embarrassment or awkwardness is an emotional state that is associated with mild to severe levels of discomfort, and which is usually experienced when someone commits (or thinks of) a socially unacceptable or frowned-upon act that is witnessed by or revealed to others. Frequently grouped with shame and guilt, embarrassment is considered a "self-conscious emotion", and it can have a profoundly negative impact on a person's thoughts or behavior. > Usually, some perception of loss of honor or dignity ... > [@](#): > > The word was derived from the French word embarrasser, “to block,” or “obstruct”,1 whose first recorded usage was by Michel de Montaigne in 1580. The French word was derived from the Spanish embarazar, whose first recorded usage was in 1460 in Cancionero de Stúñiga (Songbook of Stúñiga) by Álvaro de Luna.2 My Spanish professors called them false friends.