1252: Triple Entendre (bei mir bisti sheyn) May 14 2018

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People often talk of double entendres (except the French who don't use this French phrase). This only means that a word or phrase has two meanings but it isn't too difficult to find words with three or more meanings. For instance, the Yiddish song "Bei mir, bisti sheyn" (בײַ מיר ביסטו שײן) is easily translated into German "Bei mir bist du schön" but notoriously hard to translate into English. Though it is usually written "to me you are beautiful", "bei mir" means all of "to me", "by me" (i.e. "beside/near me"), and also "compared to me". While the final meaning-option is least likely given the context it is still a consideration. This makes the phrase "bei mir" a triple entendre. If you can you think of other triple or quadruple entendre, in any language, write it in a comment.
To see some hypothetical Word Facts, visit Patreon.com/wordfacts. Check out the latest Youtube video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqYX2heE0T0

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