Literary notes about Innuendo (AI summary)
In literature, innuendo often functions as a tool for conveying hidden meanings or subtle criticism without stating ideas outright. Authors employ it to layer dialogue with ambiguity, sometimes injecting humor or gentle irony, while at other times using it to insinuate darker intent or social reproach ([1], [2]). It can signal unspoken commentary about characters or situations—a playful allusion to sexual or scandalous implications ([3], [4]) or a sharp, veiled rebuke in conversation ([5], [6]). In this way, the strategic use of innuendo invites readers to probe beneath the surface of the text, enhancing both the narrative complexity and the engagement with its themes ([7], [8]).
- There are two versions of his concluding innuendo.
— from The Pope, the Kings and the PeopleA History of the Movement to Make the Pope Governor of the World by a Universal Reconstruction of Society from the Issue of the Syllabus to the Close of the Vatican Council by William Arthur - And now to be accused thus with innuendo and veiled menace—then he could have faith in no master, not one in the whole faculty!
— from The Eternal Boy: Being the Story of the Prodigious Hickey by Owen Johnson - I knew that your innuendo in the cabin was all make-believe.
— from The Iron Pirate: A Plain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea by Max Pemberton - [95] With a play upon the sexual meaning of the word: indeed the whole passage, from l. 358 is a mass of obscene innuendo.
— from Claudian, volume 1 (of 2)With an English translation by Maurice Platnauer by Claudius Claudianus - "You think to fling yourself upon me as you have upon Captain Farnsworth," he said, with an insulting leer and in a tone of prurient innuendo.
— from Alice of Old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson - He understood it for no chance remark, but as an innuendo tossed forth as a challenge.
— from A Daughter of Raasay: A Tale of the '45 by William MacLeod Raine - Now the tell-tale blush and Eleanor’s innuendo, caused Dorothy to reconsider her earlier judgment.
— from Polly's Business Venture by Lillian Elizabeth Roy - " There were volumes of innuendo in the way the "eventually" was spaced, and each syllable given its due stress.
— from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
