maledicta balloon

English

Noun

maledicta balloon (plural maledicta balloons)

1. A comic graphic element used to enclose obscenities, oaths, and curses.
   • 1985, Alexander Humez with Nicholas D. Humez, ABC Et Cetera: The Life & Times of the Roman Alphabet, page 9:

     It is this euphemistic use of the asterisk that is doubtless responsible for the sign's regular inclusion in the cartoonists maledicta balloon.