grawlix

oroboros After a certain age... May 27, 2010

reesetee Haha! Excellent! Mar 29, 2010

oroboros AsteriskMan - Grawlix Translator Mar 28, 2010

chained_bear *hopes kmohnkern starts visiting more often* Jul 10, 2009

kmohnkern Reesetee, the page I linked to four months ago (sorry - I'm not a frequent visitor here) mentions Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook, but in the actual A Way With Words show Martha Barnette says that Mort Walker includes "grawlix" in his "Lexicon of Comicana." Then Grant Barrett says that Walker borrowed the word from Charlie Rice. (Grant also pluralizes it as "grawlixes.") Jul 10, 2009

jeffrey.t.whitney mother-@*#$!@#!!! Jun 11, 2009

yarb He was surely brought up on Mickey Mouse and Porky Pig. He falsettoes in fright, as they do; he zips; he squeals to a halt; he varoo-ooms; he tsks; he thonks. His thonks are worthy of the three Stooges. 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.

- William Gass, The Tunnel May 11, 2009

reesetee Kmohnkern, the text of your linked page also seems to say that Mort Walker coined the word (5th paragraph from the bottom). Am I missing something? Mar 2, 2009

kmohnkern According the A Way with Words, it was Charlie Rice who coined the word. Mar 2, 2009

avivamagnolia Grawlix, Illustrated Graphically for You! Jan 17, 2009

avivamagnolia grawlix (plural grawlixes or grawlix):

Spiral-shaped graphic used to indicate swearing in comic strips.

Also, a string of typographical symbols used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swearword. You've seen this stuff a million times: &@$&@!!!

"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." ~1995, William H. Gass, The Tunnel, p.159 Jan 17, 2009

avivamagnolia Coined by American cartoonist Mort Walker, creator of the Beetle Bailey strip. Jan 17, 2009

whichbe Grawlixes Past and Present Jul 30, 2008

reesetee Gotcha. :-) Jul 28, 2008

msiii @reesetee: Sure, no one's disputing that either. Never said I'd coin a new word. It appeared in several other wordies months ago, but without proper definition.
just want to keep it in my memory (=wordie) :) Jul 26, 2008

dontcry I love gravlox... Jul 22, 2008

reesetee Msiii, no one's disputing that (I don't think). But I believe Walker was the first to coin a word for them. :-) Jul 22, 2008

alohawildcat I thought it was a distant cousin to gravlox. Jul 22, 2008

msiii DEF: The use of random non-alphabet characters as one word to indicate cursing? It’s a universally understood device, and is applied in both graphic and textual settings. Jul 17, 2008

vanishedone Maybe if you Latinised it as 'graulix, graulicis'... Apr 22, 2008

reesetee Not according to the inventor of the word, Mort Walker. He called them grawlixes in the plural. :-) Apr 22, 2008

rolig Wouldn't the plural be grawlices? Apr 22, 2008

whichbe $%#$%%$ #$@#$@#$ ^&$^# %#)(@#$ #$)(% @#$#@$@ %$^#$!#@$ @ @#$@#$@#$ #@$@#$#@$@ Aug 17, 2007