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What the #@*% Is a "Grawlix"?
The 'grawlix': it's some good $#*!.
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Words We're Watching
What the #@*% Is a ‘Grawlix'?
You’ll be amazed by the answer, we swear.
You’ve seen a grawlix before, especially if you’ve ever read the Sunday comics. But you might not be aware that the thing had a name.
The grawlix is the character or series of characters that often appear in place of profanity—the graphical version of bleeping out a word, if you will.
Can you #!@*&% believe it?
Typically a grawlix is made from the unpronounceable characters that can be found on top of the number row on your computer keyboard: the at sign (@), the pound sign or octothorpe (#), the dollar sign ($), the percent sign (%), the ampersand (&), and the asterisk (*).
Although the use of grawlixes in comics preceded him, the coinage of the term grawlix is credited to the late cartoonist Mort Walker (1923-2018), creator of Beetle Bailey, which debuted in 1950. ... Walker coined a number of terms for the tropes of comic drawing, and he collected them in a book, The Lexicon of Comicana, published in 1980. Other coinages from Walker included briffit, for the cloud of dust left when a character makes a hasty getaway, and plewds for the drops of sweat that are shown when a character is under stress. Walker’s grawlixes often included a spiral-shaped symbol as well.
What the #@*% Is a ‘Grawlix'?
You’ll be amazed by the answer, we swear.
You’ve seen a grawlix before, especially if you’ve ever read the Sunday comics. But you might not be aware that the thing had a name.
The grawlix is the character or series of characters that often appear in place of profanity—the graphical version of bleeping out a word, if you will.
Can you #!@*&% believe it?
Typically a grawlix is made from the unpronounceable characters that can be found on top of the number row on your computer keyboard: the at sign (@), the pound sign or octothorpe (#), the dollar sign ($), the percent sign (%), the ampersand (&), and the asterisk (*).
Come this fall, CBS will debut a 7:30 p.m. sitcom starring 79-year-old William Shatner. The title is $#*! My Dad Says. The opening profanity symbols (called grawlixes) will be pronounced "bleep," but we all know what it stands for.
— Michael Storey, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 20 July 2010
Although the use of grawlixes in comics preceded him, the coinage of the term grawlix is credited to the late cartoonist Mort Walker (1923-2018), creator of Beetle Bailey, which debuted in 1950. ... Walker coined a number of terms for the tropes of comic drawing, and he collected them in a book, The Lexicon of Comicana, published in 1980. Other coinages from Walker included briffit, for the cloud of dust left when a character makes a hasty getaway, and plewds for the drops of sweat that are shown when a character is under stress. Walker’s grawlixes often included a spiral-shaped symbol as well.
I instantly thought of Beetle Bailey when I saw what the definition was. Not until a few moments later did I see that there really was a connection.
Symbol Swearing
"Just in case there might be little ears around,
I won't say it, I'll just spell it out:
I feel like pound sign, question mark, star, exclamation point."
— Kevin Fowler, "Pound Sign (#?*!)"
Over time, people have come up with various handy ways to insert swearing, or at least the recognition of swearing, without setting off the Censor Alarms. One of the oldest and easiest ways to do this is by inserting random %&$#?@! symbols. This method of censorship has been seen in newspaper comics from the beginning, making this trope Older Than Radio.
Fun fact: The technical terms for such a stream of symbols is "grawlix", or "profanitype".
More common in recent times is the use of asterisks instead of random symbols, a case of T-Word Euphemism at work. See Sound-Effect Bleep for the audio version, and Narrative Profanity Filter for other ways of creatively conveying foul language.
"Just in case there might be little ears around,
I won't say it, I'll just spell it out:
I feel like pound sign, question mark, star, exclamation point."
— Kevin Fowler, "Pound Sign (#?*!)"
Over time, people have come up with various handy ways to insert swearing, or at least the recognition of swearing, without setting off the Censor Alarms. One of the oldest and easiest ways to do this is by inserting random %&$#?@! symbols. This method of censorship has been seen in newspaper comics from the beginning, making this trope Older Than Radio.
Fun fact: The technical terms for such a stream of symbols is "grawlix", or "profanitype".
More common in recent times is the use of asterisks instead of random symbols, a case of T-Word Euphemism at work. See Sound-Effect Bleep for the audio version, and Narrative Profanity Filter for other ways of creatively conveying foul language.
Potty Mouth! free font
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