Mary Jane "Mae" West was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned over seven decades. Considered a sex symbol, she was known for her breezy sexual independence and her lighthearted bawdy double entendres, often delivered in a husky contralto voice. She was active in vaudeville and on stage in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to begin a career in the film industry.
West in 1932
"Ev'rybody Shimmies Now" sheet music cover with portrait, 1918
"Diamond Lil" returning to New York from California, 1933
West's second film with Cary Grant, I'm No Angel (1933)
A double entendre is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacceptable, or offensive to state directly.
Lodgings to Let, an 1814 engraving featuring a double entendre. He: "My sweet honey, I hope you are to be let with the Lodgins!" She: "No, sir, I am to be let alone".
The first page of the poem "The Wanderer" found in the Exeter Book.
Flax on a distaff
In The Office, Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell, pictured) often points out unintentional double entendres with the phrase "that's what she said"
