Is there a non-risqué double entendre?

Question

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.

Answer 1

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

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**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!

Answer 2

It is true that for a good part of the doubles entendres found in all circumstances, they are of the risqué sort but indecency is not a defining characteristic.

(SOED) double entendre Pl. double entendres
A double meaning; an ambiguous expression; a phrase with two meanings, one usually indecent. Also, the use of such a meaning or phrase.

Here are instances of double entendres in which can't be made out the least trace of indecency.

• “Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.” (Mae West)
  (ref.) The word “institution” in connection with marriage has two meanings in here. One, it refers to marriage as an important custom of a society. Two, marriage is something that will cause an individual to go to a mental institution.

• On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital importance of being Earnest. (The Importance of Being Earnest — Oscar Wilde)
  (ref;) This comes after a series of complicated events in which the word “earnest” refers to the character trait as well as to a name. The characters in the story lead double lives and Jack learns that it's important to be earnest, as in honest, but also to be “Earnest,” a fictional persona who stumbles upon various opportunities.

• To succeed in the world of finance you mustn't be afraid to get your hands dirty. (hypothetical)
  (ref)
  If someone were to say that as the result of personal conviction, he would indubitably be tagged as someone who made a double entendre.

• The kids are playing cowboys and native Americans.
  (ref.)

There is the word "pun" that does not imply indecency; it is synonymous of another term, apparently recently come into usage.

(Wiktionary) double meaning (plural double meanings)
1 The situation in which a word or phrase has two different, often opposite, meanings. For example, wicked can mean both "good" and "bad".
2 A deliberate construction that plays on two separate meanings of a word or words; a pun.

The artistic and psychological motivations for using and tolerating double entendres must be a rich and interesting subject but this site is not a place where it can be given a thought; so the second part of your question must be ignored.