# The "cartoon swear" @#$!!\*\*@#$ Is there a specific term for this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925 "2008-03-03T07:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/1 "2008-03-03T07:10:31Z")
I have done a bit of searching for this name, term, whatever and have been unable to find it. It must have a specific term and I hope that some Doper(s) already know it or can easily find it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/2 "2008-03-03T09:29:17Z")
I can’t answer that, but I always thought it’d make a great name for a comic book shop. Not sure how they’d answer their phones though. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/3 "2008-03-03T10:17:49Z")
According to [this](http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=184349) , it’s called “maledicta”. Other references to the swear symbols being called maledicta, though, seem to be few on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/4 "2008-03-03T13:32:07Z")
Mort Walker coined the term “maledicta,” and [quite a few others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lexicon_of_Comicana)\* for various comic strip lettering and drawing conventions. It was meant ironically, but some of the names caught on among comic artists. I wouldn’t say the terms were standard, but they’re probably more common than any other. \*The Wikipedia makes it unclear, but I’ve seem Walker’s article and he did use “maledicta,” too. It’s from the latin for bad words; there’s even a journal for the study of curse words called “Maledicta.” ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/5 "2008-03-03T18:47:28Z")
The term I’ve heard used before was “[Grawlix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lexicon_of_Comicana)” which was also coined by Mort Walker. Same reference as previous post. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/6 "2008-03-04T00:48:16Z")
Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping there was a more definitive term. Heck, there’s even a term, [tmesis](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tmesis) for putting a word within another word as in un_bloody_believable. Since this is “the Dope”, I’ll bet the majority of the members probably knew that anyway. Well, thanks for the research. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/7 "2008-03-04T01:03:16Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping there was a more definitive term. Heck, there’s even a term, [tmesis](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tmesis) for putting a word within another word as in un_bloody_believable. Since this is “the Dope”, I’ll bet the majority of the members probably knew that anyway. [/QUOTE] Actually, that’s called an _infix_. i.e. un_fucking_believable, ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/8 "2008-03-04T01:15:52Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] I have done a bit of searching for this name, term, whatever and have been unable to find it. It must have a specific term and I hope that some Doper(s) already know it or can easily find it. Thanks. [/QUOTE] Ironically, it’s called the shitfuckasscunt. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cartoon-swear-is-there-a-specific-term-for-this/439925/9 "2008-03-04T05:24:13Z")
**samclem** , to be more specific, those are examples of an [Expletive Infixation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expletive_infixation). As the article states, these _could_ be considered a _type_ of tmesis (as I incorrectly stated), but it does not meet the strictest definition of that term, in that the altered word must be a compound word. Thanks for the clarification.