Great episode! I distinctly recall seeing grawlixes for the first time in a Beetle Baily cartoon I read as a child. Had to ask my mom what they meant, and she explained they stood for swearing (which you weren't allowed to do in newspapers ... at least in those days.) Never knew they had a name, albeit one made up by Mort Walker just because he felt they deserved a name.
So is there a name for the vocal equivalent of a grawlix? Think Muttley the Dog, of Hanna-Barbera fame, and his favorite expletive that sounded something like "razza-frazza-something-or-other."
Did Muttley do that? I always thought it was pioneered by Yosemite Sam...only he pronounced it "rassen frassen" etc.
Damn, I think you're right. Been awhile since I've watched cartoons. Now that I think of it, Muttley was more famous for his sneering laugh. I sit corrected. 🙂
I did so like Muttley. No one remembers it now, it seems, but before he was known for that wheezing laugh he (or maybe it was a predecessor) used to love those dog bones someone gave him. He'd go into transports of joy over them — "Mmmmm! MMMMMmmmm! Mmm-MMM-MMMmmmm!" — floating into the air so high it was off camera, then gently gliding back to earth with a sigh of content. As a child, I enjoyed that at least as much as the laugh, though I couldn't tell you why. We like what we like, I suppose.