# Censored writing in non-English languages. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714 "2009-01-10T21:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/1 "2009-01-10T21:01:58Z")
How is written cursing/swearing/un-publicatable language dealt with in languages other than English? Usually it seems that in English we either blip out the entire middle of a word, or the vowels - f\*\*k or f\*ck, for example. Or we do the long string of @#$%^ symbols. I ask because I saw a version in (I think) italian, where shit was censored as “mer\*a”, with i’d assume a d or a t asterisk’d out, a form i’d not seen before. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/2 "2009-01-10T21:57:40Z")
In German it’s usually an ellipsis (U+2026 or three dots): _Er ist ein A…loch_ - he is an A\*hole. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/3 "2009-01-11T02:20:50Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > Or we do the long string of @#$%^ symbols. In French comics, this is very common. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/4 "2009-01-11T03:14:56Z")
I’ve seen the #$@% thing in several different languages, including some Asian ones I think, but I’m not sure if it’s a post-English-world adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/5 "2009-01-11T03:22:20Z")
I don’t think you can necessarily assume it originated in English. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/6 "2009-01-11T05:29:19Z")
…touche 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/7 "2009-01-11T06:29:08Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > In French comics, this is very common. In comics catering for children, yes. So common actually that I never even realized until this thread that it was a kind of censoring. I perceived it rather as a symbol for “character is really pissed off” In papers, you’d generally find a string of periods : “Va te f…” On TV, I know of only one channel that “beeps” words. Weirdly enough, it’s a relatively recent channel, and one targeting mostly a young adult crowd. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/8 "2009-01-11T09:47:33Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > In comics catering for children, yes. So common actually that I never even realized until this thread that it was a kind of censoring. I perceived it rather as a symbol for “character is really pissed off” I remember asking my parents about those symbols the first time I encountered them, and they said that they stood for “bad words”. I knew _of_ “bad words” but since they were forbidden in our house, didn’t know what they actually were. It bothered me that I couldn’t actually read what those characters were saying. My grand mother eventually suggested _flute_ or _zut_. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/9 "2009-01-11T09:55:45Z")
Japanese will occasionally use &\*$@ type things, but more often they do the equivalent of f\*\*k, but using a circle character instead of an asterisk. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/10 "2009-01-11T10:32:41Z")
There are standard PC abbreviations for standard swear words here. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/11 "2009-01-11T10:38:57Z")
In spanish, the @#$% is also used for comic strips. In writing the ellipsis (…) is the common thing to do. El es un cab… hijo de p… Sometimes a standard ellipsis is used with 3 periods no matter what, or sometimes a number of periods equal to the number of removed letters is used to remove ambiguity. El es un c… c… de madre. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/12 "2009-01-11T19:38:16Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > There are standard PC abbreviations for standard swear words here. Define “here”? ---
**Author:** ![Bagistan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Bagistan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bagistan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/13 "2009-01-12T01:45:44Z")
In Swedish, all letters but the first and last are replaced with a dash. _J-a_ for _jävla_, _f-n_ for _fan_\*. Newspapers quote profanity verbatim. \*As a non english speaking child I was amused that Volvos had a curse word on the center console. Nowadays they have replaced that foul word with a four-blade propeller symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/14 "2009-01-12T02:01:29Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Define “here”? Oh, just here, you know? 😛 Joe ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/15 "2009-01-12T10:12:56Z")
In Spanish comics for children, it’s #$@! or suchlike; I find it very strange when I see some comic in English which subs something clearly identifiable (sh!t for example… gee, if you’re going to say it, just say it!) Many Spanish comic book artists draw some of the cussing, for example putting a picture of a pig along with the $#/& in the balloon. Camilo José Cela caused an enormous scandal with his book La Colmena (The Hive, I don’t know if it’s translated) because he included every single cussword. This is normal for adult material now. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censored-writing-in-non-english-languages/480714/16 "2009-01-12T10:18:22Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Many Spanish comic book artists draw some of the cussing, for example putting a picture of a pig along with the $#/& in the balloon. Indeed. The @#\*$ is just a lazy way of doing what old school illustrators did with stars, serpents, skulls, pigs and all other kind of little symbols.