Grawlix () or obscenicon is the use of typographical symbols to replace profanity. Mainly used in cartoons and comics, it has been described as the graphical equivalent of a bleep censor.
Grawlixes typically use "unpronounceable" characters that might be found on a typewriter or computer keyboard, including at signs (@), dollar signs ($), number signs (#), ampersands (&), percent signs (%), and asterisks (*). They may also feature other unusual shapes such as spirals. These characters may resemble the letters they replace, such as "$" standing in for "S".
History
The first known grawlix appeared in November 1, 1901 story of Gene Carr's comic strip Lady Bountiful, with the title "Lady Bountiful is Shocked": the cartoon depicts two children arguing, with one of their speech bubbles simply containing the characters "!*!-!-" followed by a spiral with a line around it and a series of lines around a dot. The character of Lady Bountiful objects to "such language".
The grawlix continued to expand its usage throughout 1902 and 1903. In December 12, 1902, The Katzenjammer...
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