What the #@&%!

Do you remember Beetle Bailey, that old comic strip about a slacker army guy and his sergeant. Remember how the sergeant used to swear up a storm, but in those ambiguous character swear words (#$@%@^!@)?

Well, I've been noticing the funky swear words popping up in comics all across the spectrum. From For Better, For Worse and Mutts to Pearls Before Swine and Get Fuzzy. Oddly enough, or perhaps not odd at all, I hear actual swear words when reading the comics now. When I was a kid, I just heard grumbling (like stuff you'd hear Yosemite Sam say, "rickrackfrackfrickin"). It surprised me when I realized this.

Now that I'm 30, it's just weird to know that there's one more piece of innocence that I've lost.

Does anyone else hear the f-bomb when they read the funny pages?

note: i was gonna add images/links to this post, but don't have time. maybe later.