word of the day: grawlix

[eub]

This was on the radio, on "Says You"'s word-bluffing game, and we chose this definition to be the right one because there ought to be a word for it. The on-air players guessed it for the same reason. And it is.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1265304,00.html

A grawlix is a sequence of typographical symbols used to represent a non-specific, profane word or phrase. Here's an example of a typical grawlix:

#@$%*!

The term first appeared in a 1964 article called Let's get down to grawlixes by American cartoonist Mort Walker, who is best known as the creator of the Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois cartoons. Later, in a book called The Lexicon of Comicana, Walker created and named an international set of symbols used in comics around the world. Walker called his system Symbolia.

Here are some examples of other terms in the list:

* agitrons: wiggly lines indicating that something is shaking
* briffits: clouds of dust indicating that a character left in a rush
* emanata: straight lines rising from around a character's head indicating surprise
* plewds: drops of sweat indicating that a character is hot or stressed
* squeans: asterisks with an empty center indicating drunkeness or dizziness
* waftaroms: wavy lines rising from something indicating a strong smell or heat.

Comments

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was just the other day trying to come up with the name of that book.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Also:

graw!

A visual history of grawlixen

[eub.livejournal.com]

http://www.statoids.com/comicana/grawlist.html

Re: A visual history of grawlixen

[eub.livejournal.com]

Note that French grawlixes are more elaborate, on the average, than the American ones. Icons of violence such as fists, skulls, and weapons are more frequent. The closest French equivalent for "seeing stars" is "voir trente-six chandelles" (literally, to see 36 candles). This may account for the prevalence of candles in the iconography of French grawlixes. Pseudo-Chinese characters are also common.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I read Backstage at the Strips shortly after it appeared in the mid-Seventies, and thought it quite wonderful. It represents Walker's musings about the history and practice of comic strips. It reproduces this 1964 material and (I think) adds more.

[3smallishmagi.livejournal.com]

I made you a thing!
http://not.bloodylikely.org/Markov/
to show the nouniness of the nouns and the adjectivity of the adjectives.

Was going to add some buttons and choices, but I suspect I'll like it better unfinished