History Main / GetTheeToANunnery

Creator/{{Shakespeare}} is probably the most common exemplar of this trope, both because he wrote [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance a long time ago]] and because he had a filthy streak wider than the [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen's]] farthingale (at least by the standards of the time). There was also no such thing as a "sensitive" listener who could not stand to hear a dirty joke in his day (except the Puritans, but they considered theatre itself to be sinful, so Shakespeare never seemed to keep their tastes in mind). The Queen's (and later King's) censors cared more about sedition and blasphemy than about sexual or scatological humor. This is how the awful puns in ''Henry V'' were allowed to be used while seemingly mild oaths like "Gadzooks" (God's hooks, or the nails that held Jesus to the cross) were banned.

** Inverted, however, when one of Biff's flunkies refers to Marty/Calvin as a "dork" in the first film. In TheFifties, "dork" was slang for a penis and was not used to refer to a goofy or silly character until much later.

** Yet another meaning to it: "Tail" was also a euphemism for vagina (yes, apparently the term is really [[OlderThanTheyThink that old]]). It's a joke about cunnilingus!

** "My beloved put his hand by the hole [of the door] and my bowels were moved for him." That has to actually mean more than it lets on. [[note]]No, the speaker didn't actually ''soil herself''--"Bowels" was basically Hebrew for ''"heart."'' At the same time… he has his hands inside her "hole" and her insides "moved".[[/note]]

* For anyone younger than 50, the word ''funky'' definitely makes this list. You probably grew up hearing it used in popular songs in expressions like "Get down! Get funky!" - and assumed the word simply meant "cool." But it originally referred to the smell of a woman's vagina, so that expression is actually an instruction/encouragement to engage in cunnilingus.
** "Funky" still has that connotation, but more generalized when referring to smell.

** Some Biblical pages have been sanitized [[BlatantLies for our protection]] by translators. One example is in 1 Samuel 20:41: the King James version is (greeting Jonathan) "David arose out of the place… and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded." Conservative Christian commentators claim that "exceeded" means that he became overly emotional, but at least [[http://www.examiner.com/x-689-Spiritual-Life-Examiner~y2009m2d5-Sorry-rightwingers-but-King-David-was-gay one rabbi]] has claimed that in the original Hebrew, the last two words are really "David enlarged"--in other words, "[[SomethingElseAlsoRises David had an erection]]."

(Lou pours Marty a cup of black coffee.)

'''Waiter:''' Tab? I can't give you a tab unless you order something. \\

'''Waiter:''' You want a Pepsi, pal, you're gonna pay for it!\\

** ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'': The title has three different yet equally appropriate meanings, as the main conflict over the play revolves around the false implication of Hero losing her virginity to another man while engaged to Claudio. Therefore it is "Much Ado about Nothing" as nothing was really going on, "Much Ado about Noting" as it's concerned with the views the characters have of each others' moral fiber (how they "note" each other), and "Much Ado about Nothing" as it was concerned with Hero's own naughty bits/her virginity. Sadly this clever wordplay is lost on many modern readers and the first interpretation is all they are aware of.

Creator/{{Shakespeare}} is probably the most common exemplar of this trope, both because he wrote [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance a long time ago]] and because he had a [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar filthy streak]] wider than the [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen's]] farthingale (at least by the standards of the time). There was also no such thing as a "sensitive" listener who could not stand to hear a dirty joke in his day (except the Puritans, but they considered theatre itself to be sinful, so Shakespeare never seemed to keep their tastes in mind). The Queen's (and later King's) censors cared more about sedition and blasphemy than about sexual or scatological humor. This is how the awful puns in ''Henry V'' were allowed to be used while seemingly mild oaths like "Gadzooks" (God's hooks, or the nails that held Jesus to the cross) were banned.

* In Creator/CarlBarks' ''Back to the Klondike'', Scrooge [=McDuck=] describes Glittering Goldie as "the only live one I ever knew." Given his reclusive, [[GoodIsNotNice asocial attitude towards life]], and disdain for everything except money up to that point, it's entirely possible (indeed, in context, there's no other logical interpretation) that he means this in the above-mentioned clinical sense of "know." This, along with a somewhat more overt gag, is an epic case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar; when questioned by observant fans at the exact nature of Scrooge and Goldie's relationship, Barks tactfully insisted it wasn't something his publishers would want to get into.

* The word "gunsel", in a way. Back in the day, it meant either a young boy kept for sexual purposes, or the passive partner in anal intercourse. Then writers like Creator/DashiellHammett began to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar slide the word into their stories]] knowing the real meaning, but relying on their editor to not know the word, and assume it had something to do with guns. These days, [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gunsel a gun-wielding hoodlum]] is a valid alternate meaning, and has appeared in that context on such places as the HBO website, talking about the character of Brother Mouzone from ''Series/TheWire''. (Unless there's [[AmbiguouslyGay something we don't know about Brother...]])

** Chances are that Chick felt the need for that hilarious aside because he heard theories that the crimes of the mob weren't necessarily homosexuality and he wanted everyone to be damned sure that it ''was''. Yeah.
*** Never mind that Sodom's crimes were a) [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]], not sex, and b) violating [[SacredHospitality the laws of hospitality]], per Ezekiel 16:49 and several other places…

** Due to its connotation, "Gloria" was not used as an English name until the late 19th century, when Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw used it for his Portuguese character in ''You Never Can Tell'' (the word never had a negative meaning in the highly Catholic Portugal, where it is associated with the Marian title "Maria da Glória")

** An interesting question arises: Has this usage returned (in the 19th century through today) or did it always remain current? This usage also appears in the King James Bible, so at least the usage has been generally available, if not actually used, the whole time.
* According to a certain annotated copy of ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', the following conversation is actually about having sex with prostitutes:

** More glaringly, when Malvolio reads the fake letter supposedly from Olivia, he notes her handwriting by her "C"s, her "U"s, and her "T"s, [[StealthPun from which she makes her great "P"s]]. Need it be mentioned that "cut" was old-timey slang for a woman's private parts?

-->'''Katherine:''' …''Coment appelle vous les pied et de roba?''\\

* Again in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', we have the opening scene where a Capulet man expresses his desire to fight the Montagues and "cut off the heads" of their maids--"maidenhead" being an old term for a woman's hymen/virginity. This is lampshaded by a second man asking "The heads of the maids, or their maidenheads?" to which the first replies "Ah, 'tis all one."
** Similarly, in the same scene he mentions he would "take to the wall any Man or Maid of Montague". "Take to the wall" is a reference to the fact in fancy Italian cities of the time (such as Verona) families would have their toilets on the second floor of their homes, set up in such a way that their contents would dump down and drain into a trench in the center of the street. In essence, the Capulet man is saying he'd want to [[ToiletHumor shove the Montagues under a toilet and give them an excrement shower]]--or doing [[WallBangHer something different]] with the maidens.
** That theme is developed further when he vows to take the whole Montague clan "to the wall" and his companion advises him that "the weakest goes to the wall." He's speaking (at least overtly) in terms of fighting them, and the implication is that the Montague men, at least, would be in continual retreat from his attacks until they hit the wall, having run out of places to go. He then vows to "thrust the men from the wall, and thrust the women to the wall" -- in other words, he'll drag the men out so that he can keep fighting them (with or without the excrement shower) and deflower the women.

-->'''Prince:''' Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack and minutes capons and clocks the tongues of bawds[[note]]pimps[[/note]] and dials the signs of leaping-houses[[note]]brothels[[/note]] and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench[[note]]in this context, prostitute[[/note]] in flame-coloured taffeta[[note]]the color of fabric often worn by them[[/note]], I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of the day.

* In Literature/TheBible, the phrase "And Adam knew his wife" sounds innocent enough, until you learn that in Hebrew, there are two words for "know": one applies to people, and the other applies to inanimate objects. If you use the second to apply to a person, it becomes a euphemism for sex. [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle And now]] [[InnocentInnuendo you know]]. To be fair, the meaning is rather obvious--the next few words are, "and she conceived a son". This one seems to have come full circle, as "knew her in the Biblical sense" has entered the popular lexicon. Still, some translations render such pages into the contemporary English phrases for clarity. This is also the basis of the legal term "carnal knowledge".
** "In the Biblical sense" is an idiom in modern day Hebrew. Used also in ''Film/SisterAct''.

--->'''John Proctor:''' I have... ''known''... Abigail Williams.

** The song "If It Isn't Her" by Ani Difranco has the lyrics: "She says, 'Do I Know You'. I say, 'Well not biblically.'"

* In Shakespeare's time, "thing" being a euphemism for a man's primary naughty bit, "nothing" or "no-thing" was also a euphemism for a woman's naughty bits. Many plays make use of this term, often to pun or joke.

* In ''Theatre/HenryIV'' there is a whole speech full of whore jokes at the beginning of the second scene in the first act.
-->'''Prince:''' Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack and minutes capons and clocks the tongues of bawds[[note]]pimps[[/note]] and dials the signs of leaping-houses[[note]]brothels[[/note]] and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench[[note]]in this context, prostitute[[/note]] in flame-coloured taffeta[[note]]the color of fabric often worn by whores[[/note]], I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of the day.

--->'''Sir Andrew:''' [[WhatAnIdiot Her "C"s, her "U"s, aNd her "T"s?]] [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Why that?]]

** Some Biblical pages have been sanitized for our protection by translators. One example is in 1 Samuel 20:41: the King James version is (greeting Jonathan) "David arose out of the place… and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded." Conservative Christian commentators claim that "exceeded" means that he became overly emotional, but at least [[http://www.examiner.com/x-689-Spiritual-Life-Examiner~y2009m2d5-Sorry-rightwingers-but-King-David-was-gay one rabbi]] has claimed that in the original Hebrew, the last two words are really "David enlarged"--in other words, "[[SomethingElseAlsoRises David had an erection]]."

** It's worse than just that. [[HavingAGayOldTime The word originally meant 'testicle']]; the flowers got the name because, well, somebody thought they (well, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orchis_lactea_rhizotubers.jpg their roots]]) ''looked'' like...orchids.

* In ''Theatre/KingLear'' Edmund's line "Yours in the ranks of death!" is actually a Elizabethan era euphemism or pun for an orgasm or sex in general. "Die" was a common English euphemism for "orgasm" well into the 18th century, probably stemming from the French euphemism ''la petite mort'', "the little death." Shakespeare loved the phrase "I die in your lap"--he uses it in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', where Benedick tells Beatrice he "will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy sight." Also in the same play, Benedick says he was told Beatrice was "sick for him" (i.e. in love with him), leading Beatrice to reply that ''she'' was told Benedick was "well-nigh dead for me."

* In ''Theatre/KingLear'' Edmund's line "Yours in the ranks of death!" is actually a Elizabethan era euphemism or pun for an orgasm or sex in general. "Die" was a common English euphemism for "orgasm" well into the 18th century, probably stemming from the French euphemism ''la petite mort'', "the little death." Shakespeare loved the phrase "I die in your lap"--he uses it in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', where Benedick tells Beatrice he "will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy sight." Also in the same play, Benedick says he was told Beatrice was "sick for him" (i.e. in love with him), leading Beatrice to reply that ''she'' was told Benedick was "well nigh dead for her."

Shakespeare's plays are absolutely chock-full of puns, references, double-meanings, and innuendos that are completely lost on modern audiences due to how the English language and society have evolved. One really has to read annotated versions to get everything that Shakespeare intended. Of course, this presents its own problems.

* [[http://xkcd.com/794/ This]] ''WebComic/{{XKCD}}'' comic has an example of the "incomprehensible" variety.

...Wait, but what does "farthingale" mean when it's ''not'' an innuendo?[[note]]It was apparently a "hooped petticoat or circular pad of fabric around the hips, formerly worn under women's skirts to extend and shape them." [[Main/AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle Now you know.]] [[/note]]

*** Incidentally, ''Dinner for Schmucks'' was a remake of the French movie ''Le Dîner des cons''; ''con'' itself was once an obscene word meaning "cunt" but is now a very mild expression meaning "stupid" or "an idiot," with the former meaning next to forgotten. Making "schmucks" a beautifully analogous translation.

Shakespeare's plays are absolutely chocked full of puns, references, double-meanings, and innuendos that are completely lost on modern audiences due to how the English language and society have evolved. One really has to read annotated versions to get everything that Shakespeare intended. Of course, this presents its own problems.

** And of course Mercutio and his "queen Mab" monologue in {{Romeo and Juliet}}, when Romeo interrupts mid-sentence:

* Frigging, which means rubbing, at a time had all the sexual connotations of that other F word.