The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

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 KIBO, sense 2), *v*l*t**n (anywhere fundamentalists might
    be lurking), *b*rt**n, and g*n c*ntr*l. Compare UN*X.