Grawlix

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹɔːlɪks/

Definitions

1. A combination of symbols used to convey strong emotions, often representing profanity, in comics and cartoons
2. A graphical representation consisting of various punctuation marks that imply foul language without explicitly showing it
3. A sequence of non-letter characters that replaces offensive language in printed or drawn form

Etymology: Cartoonists have a dedicated vocabulary for swearing that never appears in any dictionary of real language. In 1964, the American comic strip writer Mort Walker, creator of "Beetle Bailey," published a humorous article titled "Let's Get Down to Grawlixes" in The Cartoonist, the journal of the National Cartoonists Society. The word was his invention, and it has no meaning beyond the symbols it names. Walker's coinage is a made-up word, and it may have been shaped by "growl," though the connection is uncertain. The term refers to the strings of symbols, such as @, #, $, %, and &, that a cartoonist draws in a speech balloon to stand in for a curse. Readers understand the symbols as profanity without any letters being spelled out.

Synonyms: typographical symbol, censored symbol, comic symbol, swear word symbol