3

"A sheep led astray rarely gets fleeced." The literal act of fleecing of a sheep alludes to the alternative meaning of fleeced - to get swindled, or stripped of money. It doesn't seem to be a pun, but I can't think of what term would describe the dual literal and figurative meaning of this statement.

  • 4
    It seems like a pun (a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings) to me. – anongoodnurse Oct 16 '14 at 03:37
  • Fleeced means "to be stripped of" in either context. If there is a double meaning to the phrase, but that double meaning relies on a word meaning the same thing in either context, does that still qualify as a pun? – user94595 Oct 16 '14 at 08:44

1 Answers1

2

Double entendre

a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.