splat
= S =
spod
splat out v.
[Usenet; syn. `disemvowel'] To partially
obscure a potentially provocative word by substituting splat
characters for some of its letters (usually, but not always, the
vowels). The purpose is not to make the word unrecognizable but to
make it a mention rather than a use, so that no flamewar ensues.
Words often splatted out include N*z* (see Godwin's Law),
k*bo* (see sense 2), *v*l*t**n (anywhere fundamentalists
might be lurking), *b*rt**n, and g*n c*ntr*l. Compare UN*X.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.