Unwitting double entendres can bite you in the ads

When a real-estate advertisement reads, “This beautiful three-bedroom home won’t last long,” it means to convey that you’d better buy the house now because it’ll sell quickly. But the message some readers might receive instead is that the place is structurally unsound.

Similarly, when The Eye spotted “Lays: Buy One, Get One” on a Safeway marquee in Fort Collins on Christmas Eve, we were certain the grocer’s aim merely was to tout a sale on potato chips. However, in the lingo of the day, the sexually suggestive subtext couldn’t be missed, no matter how unintentionally it was crafted.