History HaveAGayOldTime / Literature

* In ''Literature/ATreeGrowsInBrooklyn'', Sissy calls all her husbands and lovers "John" for her convenience, and her family often refers to them as "Sissy's John" or "The John". No, she's not ''[[TheOldestProfession that]]'' [[TheOldestProfession kind of woman]], as she'd be the first to insist. (However, for a book written in 1943, the meaning of "love-making" in ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' is much like the contemporary euphemism: it's described as sometimes involving a couch and likely to result in a child.

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* In Creator/ChristopherMoore's ''Literature/CoyoteBlue'', [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll one]] [[EverybodyhasLotsofSex character]] is named "Yiffer". While a "yiffer" can be defined as [[GagPenis a stout pole used in scaffolding]], anyone the least bit familiar with the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom is likely to see a ''completely'' different meaning.

* ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' is fond of using the phrase "get up and hump yourself", these days, we would say "hustle". Considering how it's common UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia, [[HehHehYouSaidX the classroom snickering is inevitable]].

* The word Bondage in ''Literature/OfHumanBondage'' refers to "state of being a slave", refering to the protagonist, Philip Carrey, being a metaphorical slave to external forces in his life. However, since the word Bondage came to be known as the act of restraining someone for sexual reasons (i.e. the B of BDSM), it occasionally causes a few people in modern times to mistake the novel for erotic literature. Ironically, it's quite tame in that regard (the few and far between sex scenes it has receive the SexyDiscretionShot treatment).

** Music/NickCave named an album "Music/KickingAgainstThePricks" in honour of the verse, and it got banned from a lot of stores for the name alone. If they'd listened to it, they'd see it was a fairly innocuous collection of country and gospel covers.
** The use of that word to represent the naughty bits was around back then (Shakespeare used it in such a manner, in fact). The translators of the KJV were more frumpy fuddy-duddies than ol' Bill, one would expect.

** "Moby" means "large, immense, or impressive," making the title even funnier.
*** That meaning of "Moby" ''derives'' from the novel. It was basically a meaningless noise at the time Melville used it (some scholars have suggested it may derive from "mocha", as apparently there was a previously existing legend about a large white whale called "Mocha Dick" for its habit of appearing near the island of Mocha and "Dick" being a common name as in the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry").

** The "Mocha Dick" reference above probably had little to nothing to do with the coffee beverage. But since the name of Captain Ahab's first mate - "Starbuck" - also happens to conjure up an enormously popular American coffeehouse chain, this [[StealthPun play on words]] is all the more hilarious to modern audiences when they hear about it.

%% Order by surname/family name for items concerning a person; by title for a title; or by the important word of the term, e.g. "Have a gay old time" is about the word "gay" not "have" so it goes under g.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** "Ejaculate" for "exclaim" appears twice in the books, which has led to a lot of misunderstandings and jokes over the years.
** The Fat Lady's use of "Abstinence" as a password for Gryffindor Tower in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. The meaning is the same, but the Fat Lady uses its obsolete definition as a reference to giving up alcohol (having just drunk her way through some very old mead), as opposed to the common usage of abstaining from sex. Abstaining from alcohol is common usage in parts of England.
** In the third book, dog breeder Marge Dursley - while insulting Harry and his parents - says "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup--" before being interrupted in mid-word.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson's Guide to Life]]'' has a chapter about animals, with one description reading "A titmouse is not a mouse, nor is it a tit. It is a bird." Since the book had earlier made no fewer than two jokes about [[BoobBasedGag giant brassieres]] and no fewer than three jokes about [[HehHehYouSaidX the planet Uranus]], it wouldn't be surprising if this innuendo was intentional. Still, it's still a bit shocking to see in a book that is aimed at preteen readers and whose humor is relatively innocent.

* In Creator/BeverlyCleary's ''Literature/DearMrHenshaw'', the main character sees a sign that reads "$50 fine for molesting butterflies" and wonders why anyone would want to molest a butterfly. It's pretty obvious the word isn't being used in the sense readers are most familiar with, but the character's thoughts could prove otherwise...

** ''The gay mood didn't last long. I think it was only the next month, October possibly, that trouble began''

** Yet another unintentionally funny usage of "queer" comes when Jonathan writes of having [[HomoeroticDream queer dreams]].

** "Ejaculate" for "exclaim" appear an alarming number of times in throughout the books, which has led to a lot of misunderstandings and mockery over the years.

* ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' sometimes does a "then and now" strip. One entry showed a girl's "coming out" party. ''Then'', she was a wealthy young woman entering society as an adult ready for marriage. ''Now'', she's introducing her ButchLesbian girlfriend to her parents.