grawlix

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Apparently coined by American cartoonist Mort Walker circa 1964.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɹɔːlɪks/

Noun

grawlix (plural grawlixes or grawlix)

1. A spiral-shaped graphic used to indicate swearing in comic strips.
   • 1995, William H. Gass, The Tunnel, page 159

     He does all the Popeye voices, but prefers Olive Oyl's. He has noises for the nittles, the grawlix, the quimps, the jarns. He blows each balloon up before your ears. He reels home, +'s on his eyes, singing the spirl that rises like heat from his head.

2. A string of typographical symbols, especially "@#$%&!", used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swearword.
3. A series of violence related images in a speech bubble to represent obscenity or swearwords

See also

• jarn
• phosphene
• quimp
• The Lexicon of Comicana on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:The Lexicon of Comicana

References

• Mort Walker, The Lexicon of Comicana