Is there a non-risqué double entendre?

Merriam Webster's definition (and all of the definitions I've found) for double entendre is: "a word or expression capable of two interpretations with one usually risqué." Although "usually" is there, is there a similar term for expressions that have two or more meanings, but none of them are risqué?

For example, "Better is up to you."

  • If the emphasis is placed on 'up,' this sentence means 'better's' relative position to 'you'
  • If the emphasis is placed on 'you,' it means 'you' have to cause 'better'

Both are intended, but without explanation, how can interpreters be expected to get both intentions? The intent of the writer is to have the reader interpret what they need most, assuming the unconscious mind will calculate that without a reader's awareness...and when they read it again, their unconscious mind might calculate a different meaning because it decides that's more important during that read. In other words, the author does not care which one they interpret, as long as it's the one they need most at the time of each reading...or they let the power of the sentence have all it's intended meanings.


You say in a comment:

Your unconscious mind makes 20,000 calculations per second on average and you are only aware of less than .0001% of them. If you think of subliminal advertising, the advertiser is saying one thing while tapping into your subconscious to deliver the 'real' message...but it does not have to be risque or humorous, as double entendres and puns do. I'm looking for the equivalent term to puns and double entendres that share multiple 'wisdoms' at the same time depending on how the sentence is written. The reader does not consciously recognize it.

The answer is simply "ambiguity"

This is a well-known technique that can be used for beneficial purposes or for advertising.

To get full picture you need to study NLP**. Here's a flavour though:

Within hypnotic language, and more specifically within the Milton Model, an ambiguity occurs when a word, phrase or sentence has multiple meanings. Ambiguities are a very useful way to induce confusion. https://planetnlp.com/milton_model_ambiguity.html


**Note that the Wikipedia entry for NLP is a scathing rebuttal. For those who are interested, my point of view is different. (click to read)

In fact current neuroscience is showing some of its principles to be more accurate than previously thought. Am I biased? Yes, I freely admit it. Just by reading one page of an introductory book on NLP book thirty years ago I was able to follow a technique and cure myself of lifelong claustrophobia. It took me 10 minutes. NLP can be considered an extension of the placebo/nocebo effects. These effects have been demonstrated time after time using double-blind experiments in medical research. A minority of patients report (or even show) an improvement just by believing they had the drug. Doctors learn about it in medical school. If a simple placebo can work, then I believe a more complex version of placebo is quite plausible. Incidentally another basis for NLP is therapeutic hypnosis. This has also been shown to allow medical procedures to be carried out without anaesthesia given sufficient hypnotic expertise on the part of the (highly medically qualified) practitioner.

Why this long note? Because many people pooh-pooh NLP without having studied the least thing about it. I'm just getting my oar in first!