different between profanity vs grawlix

English

Alternative forms

• prophanity (hypercorrect, obsolete)

Etymology

profane +? -ity, from Latin profanitas.

Noun

profanity (countable and uncountable, plural profanities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.
   • 1910, John William Cousin, "Bunyan, John" in A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.

     The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved.

2. (countable) Obscene, lewd or abusive language.

Translations

English

Etymology

Apparently coined by American cartoonist Mort Walker in 1964.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?????l?ks/

Noun

grawlix (plural grawlixes or grawlix or grawlices)

1. A spiral-shaped graphic used to indicate swearing in comic strips.
2. A string of typographical symbols, especially "@#$%&!", used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swearword.

   Synonym: obscenicon

3. A series of violence related images in a speech bubble to represent obscenity, swearwords or profanity.

See also

• jarn
• nittle
• phosphene
• quimp
• spirl
• squean
• The Lexicon of Comicana on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• Mort Walker, The Lexicon of Comicana

• "Holy $#!%: Where Did The Symbolic Swear Come From?", Dictionary.com. http://www.dictionary.com/e/what-the/. (February 8, 2018).