The next step

Scene and inuendo[1]

Eric invites Gwen to his hotel suite and she declines because she thinks it will lead to the next step. Eric does not understand.

Scene. Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet . Chapter 22 Italian Dinner.

>>> "I would like that very much." She kissed me on the cheek, "but I must rise early tomorrow and I want you to get to know the real me before we go the next step and the next step would follow if we go upstairs." What she said had a mysterious undertone and I was almost certain she was hinting at something I did not understand and I knew what she meant by the next step .<<<

It is of course a  sexual innuendo  a specific meaning, namely that of a "risqué" double entendre by playing on a possibly sexual interpretation of an otherwise innocent uttering. For example: "We need to go deeper" can be seen as either a request for further inquiry, or a request to go deeper into an intimate part.

[1]

An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or a derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion. In the latter sense the intention is often to insult or accuse someone in such a way that one's words, taken literally, are innocent.

According to the Advanced Oxford Learner's Dictionary, an innuendo is "an indirect remark about somebody or something, usually suggesting something bad, mean or rude", such as: "innuendos about her private life" or "The song is full of sexual innuendo".

The term sexual innuendo has acquired a specific meaning, namely that of a "risqué" double entendre by playing on a possibly sexual interpretation of an otherwise innocent uttering. For example: "We need to go deeper" can be seen as either a request for further inquiry, or a request to go deeper into an intimate part.

In the context of defamation law, an innuendo meaning is one which is not directly contained in the words complained of, but which would be understood by those reading it based on special knowledg