nudge nudge wink wink

Definition

A phrase used to hint that the speaker is euphemistically referring to something else.

Etymology

Suggests that the speaker is nudging, and winking at, the person to whom the term is directed. Popularized by the Monty Python sketch "Candid Photography" (better known as Nudge Nudge).

Example Sentences

• "The Opposition is so insensitive to the South Island that it gets a North Island member to move a private member's Bill about a South Island issue. […] The Bill represents a broken half-promise—"nudge, nudge, wink, wink"—by the Leader of the Opposition in Timaru only a short time ago. […] So down [to the South Island] he goes—"nudge, nudge, wink, wink". They let him out of the closet for a while to go down to talk to some South Islanders and he told them they would get 25 percent and 10 percent. Now there is a Bill from a North Island Opposition member, the member for New Plymouth—a Bill that backs off from that promise in the space of a couple of weeks."
• "Toby Miller, a professor at New York University, commented on [actress Drew] Barrymore's attitude: "She seems to be saying, 'I see no reason to hide my sexuality, my body—I want to celebrate it' … And all the women I know, even those who thought such a spectacle was tragic in the Seventies, love it. It's a nudge-nudge, wink-wink parody.""
• "Sally unlocked her tiny cubicle and found herself feeling quite nostalgic. No more early mornings on the number 13 bus to work. No more Geordie and his nudge nudge, wink wink greetings; from next month she would be a professional actress, working in repertory."