innuendo，暗讽，英语修辞的一种，是一种温和的反语。用一种比较隐晦曲折的方式表达对所提及的某事某物的不一致和不赞赏。

例子：He must take his readings in a bathroom.

他肯定是在洗澡间看的书。

反语。英语修辞的一种，是用反话代替本意，达到强调效果的一种修辞。

比如，We are lucky, what you said makes me feel really good!

我们真走运，你的话让我感觉棒极了！

讽刺，英语修辞的一种，讽刺程度比irony强烈。它是一种以奚落嘲讽为目的，打击伤害客体感情的一种修辞。

例子： Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small files, but let waspes break through.

法律就像蜘蛛网一样，能抓到小苍蝇，但却让马蜂（轻易）突破。

Innuendo is an allusive remark concerning a person or thing, especially of a depreciatory kind. It is a figure of speech in which moderate and allusive words and tone are used to make comments or pass criticisms upon a person or thing. Innuendo, like irony, enables a speaker to be impolite while seeming to be polite. But different from irony, innuendo does it in a more indirect way. It hints or implies something uncomplimentary without plainly saying it.

As in irony, insincerity may be more or less obvious in innuendo. In Grice’s terms, it may take the form of a breach of the Maxim of Quantity, or a breach of the Maxim of Quality.

Innuendo and irony differ from each other. With irony, the intended meaning is explicit: it is expressed by the opposite of the literal meaning of the word used. In contrast, with innuendo, the intended meaning is implicit and the understanding of it depends on the context. That’s why innuendo is also called ”a mild irony”. Compare the innuendo remarks with the plain statement in the brackets.

Innuendo involves implication, but not all implications are innuendos. Innuendo is generally used to criticize, satirize or ridicule a person or thing, though in an indirect and a mild way. But not all implications are intended for this purpose.