- preg_match_all: documentation ( source)
- str_replace: documentation ( source)
<?php
$txt = "He *is* a good boy. How *are* you.";
$_GET['one'] = "doesn't";
$_GET['two'] = "think about";
preg_match_all( '{\*[^*]+\*}',$txt,$matches );
$txt = str_replace( $matches[0][0], $_GET['one'], $txt );
$txt = str_replace( $matches[0][1], $_GET['two'], $txt );
echo $txt;