{"id":565870,"date":"2023-08-22T20:42:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T18:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.nl\/?p=565870"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:37:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T13:37:37","slug":"grawlix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/rhetoric\/grawlix\/","title":{"rendered":"Grawlix | Definition, Meaning, Use & Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grawlix<\/strong> (also called \u201cobscenicon\u201d or \u201csymbol swearing\u201d) refers to the use of typographical symbols in place of an obscenity (e.g., \u201c$%@!\u201d).<\/p>\n

Grawlix is frequently used in comic strips to indicate that a character is thinking or saying a swear word. It\u2019s also used on social media platforms as a way to obscure inappropriate language. Grawlix can be used by itself or as part of a sentence.<\/p>\n

Examples: Grawlix<\/figcaption>\u201c#$@!<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the %@#!<\/strong> is my car? I parked it right here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate this @&#$?&! <\/strong>song.\u201d<\/figure>\n

\"Grawlix\"<\/p>\n

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How is grawlix used?<\/h2>\n

Grawlix is a string of typographical symbols, most commonly ampersands (\u201c&\u201d), at signs (\u201c@\u201d), exclamation points<\/a> (\u201c!\u201d), question marks<\/a> (\u201c?\u201d), percentage symbols (\u201c%\u201d), hash or pound symbols (\u201c#\u201d), and dollar signs (\u201c$\u201d). These symbols are used in no particular order.<\/p>\n

Because grawlix consists solely of symbols, it\u2019s only ever written and cannot be used in spoken communication. However, in speech, grawlix is usually represented by the word \u201cbleep\u201d (in reference to the electric sound commonly used to censor expletives and sensitive information in recorded audio).<\/p>\n

Grawlix should be avoided in formal contexts like academic writing<\/a>. However, it\u2019s sometimes used in informal contexts, such as text messages (usually in the form of an emoji depicting an angry face with the mouth obscured by typographical symbols).<\/p>\n

Examples: Grawlix in text messages<\/figcaption>Person A: <\/strong>Hey, I forgot to water your plants while you were away. Sorry.<\/p>\n

Person B: <\/strong>\ud83e\udd2c<\/figure>\n

Grawlix is also often used on social media platforms as a means of self-censorship or to subvert community guidelines and policies.<\/p>\n

In these instances, symbols are often used to replace one or more letters in an offensive or prohibited word, rather than the entire word (e.g., \u201cF*#K\u201d). Sometimes, a specific symbol is used to represent a letter that it resembles (e.g., \u201c$\u201d is often used to represent the letter \u201cs\u201d). It\u2019s also common to replace some letters (usually vowels) with asterisks (e.g., \u201cf*ck\u201d).<\/p>\n

Other interesting articles<\/h2>\n

If you want to know more about language rules, AI tools<\/a>, and fallacies<\/a>, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>Fallacies<\/strong><\/p>\n