Wordie: Grawlix: Comments

Comment by chained_bear, 4 months ago

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:31:47 +0000

*hopes kmohnkern starts visiting more often*

Comment by kmohnkern, 4 months ago

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:10:36 +0000

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.")

Comment by jeffrey.t.whitney, 4 months ago

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:35:29 +0000

mother-@*#$!@#!!!

Comment by yarb, 6 months ago

Mon, 11 May 2009 05:11:56 +0000

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

Comment by reesetee, 8 months ago

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:52:24 +0000

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?

Comment by kmohnkern, 8 months ago

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:21:57 +0000

According the A Way with Words, it was Charlie Rice who coined the word.

Comment by avivamagnolia, 9 months ago

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:57:24 +0000

Grawlix, Illustrated Graphically for You!

Comment by avivamagnolia, 9 months ago

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:41:53 +0000

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

Comment by avivamagnolia, 9 months ago

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:29:57 +0000

Coined by American cartoonist Mort Walker, creator of the Beetle Bailey strip.

Comment by whichbe, about 1 year ago

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:50:31 +0000

Grawlixes Past and Present

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:36:42 +0000

Gotcha. :-)

Comment by msiii, about 1 year ago

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:25:01 +0000

@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) :)

Comment by dontcry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:37:24 +0000

I love gravlox...

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:26:52 +0000

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

Comment by alohawildcat, about 1 year ago

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:07:09 +0000

I thought it was a distant cousin to gravlox.

Comment by msiii, about 1 year ago

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:37:36 +0000

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.

Comment by VanishedOne, about 1 year ago

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:39:36 +0000

Maybe if you Latinised it as 'graulix, graulicis'...

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:30:06 +0000

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

Comment by rolig, about 1 year ago

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:36:51 +0000

Wouldn't the plural be grawlices?

i think these are beautiful

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:31:31 +0000

$%#$%%$ #$@#$@#$ ^&$^# %#)(@#$ #$)(% @#$#@$@ %$^#$!#@$ @ @#$@#$@#$ #@$@#$#@$@