Satiric misspelling#KKK replacing c or k

Replacing the letter c with k in the first letter of a word was used by the Ku Klux Klan during its early years in the mid-to-late 19th century. The concept is continued today within the group. For something similar in the writing of groups opposed to the KKK, see {{section link|#KKK replacing c or k}}, below.

In the 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, the Yippies sometimes used Amerika rather than America in referring to the United States.{{Cite web|url=http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/radical.html|title=Psychedelic 60's: Four Radical Groups|website=UVA Library|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206155821/http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/radical.html|archive-date=December 6, 1998|access-date=2020-04-02}}{{cite web|url=http://www1.american.edu/bgriff/H207web/sixties/rubinchildofAmerika.htm|title=Jerry Rubin: Self-Portrait of a Child of "Amerika," 1970|last=Rubin|first=Jerry|work=american.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031103204144/http://www1.american.edu/bgriff/H207web/sixties/rubinchildofAmerika.htm|archive-date=November 3, 2003|access-date=April 2, 2020}} According to Oxford Dictionaries, it was an allusion to the Russian and German spellings of the word and intended to be suggestive of fascism and authoritarianism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/amerika|title=Amerika {{!}} Meaning of Amerika by Lexico|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402062435/https://www.lexico.com/definition/amerika|archive-date=2020-04-02|access-date=2020-04-02}}

File:Barc okupa.jpg

A similar usage in Italian, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} is to write okupa rather than ocupa (often on a building or area occupied by squatters),{{cite web|url=http://comunidades.calle22.com/comunidades/397/com397con2.asp |title=comunidades.calle22.com - TODOS SOMOS OKUPAS |access-date=2004-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611121504/http://comunidades.calle22.com/comunidades/397/com397con2.asp |archive-date=June 11, 2008 }}{{Better source|date=April 2020}} referring to the name adopted by okupación activist groups. It stems from a combination of English borrowings with k in them to those languages, and Spanish anarchist and punk movements which used "k" to signal rebellion.{{cite web|last=Rodríguez González|first=Félix|year=2006|title=Medios de comunicación y contracultura juvenil|work=Círculo|volume=25:5–30|url=http://www.ucm.es/info/circulo/no25/rodriguez.pdf}}

Replacing "c" with "k" was at the center of a Monty Python joke from the Travel Agent sketch. Eric Idle's character has an affliction that makes him pronounce the letter C as a B, as in "blassified" instead of "classified". Michael Palin asks him if he can say the letter K; Idle replies that he can, and Palin suggests that he spell words with a K instead of C. Idle replies: "what, you mean, pronounce 'blassified' with a K? [...] Klassified. [...] Oh, it's very good! I never thought of that before! What a silly bunt!"{{YouTube|vQODVsl5pFY|Monty Python at Hollywood Bowl – The holiday|t=2m15s}}.

File:"No Justice In AmeriKKKa" graffiti.jpg]]

A common satiric usage of the letters KKK is the spelling of America as Amerikkka, alluding to the Ku Klux Klan, referring to underlying racism in American society. The earliest known usage of Amerikkka recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary is in July 1970, in an African-American magazine called Black World.{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLIDAAAAMBAJ&q=amerikkka&pg=PA83 | title=Black World/Negro Digest| publisher=Johnson Publishing Company| date=July 1970}}

The spelling Amerikkka came into greater use after the 1990 release of the gangsta rap album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted by Ice Cube.

The letters KKK have been inserted into several other words and names, to indicate similar perceived racism, oppression or corruption. Examples include:

• Republikkkan (U.S. Republican Party){{cite web|url=http://www.blackstripe.com/archives/views/abanks/shrub.html |title=The Blackstripe - Stolen 2000 Election |access-date=2004-10-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060225154916/http://www.blackstripe.com/archives/views/abanks/shrub.html |archive-date=February 25, 2006 }}
• Demokkkrat (U.S. Democratic Party)
• KKKapitalism (capitalism){{cite web|url=http://home4.inet.tele.dk/lepan/lene/indiana/mscritical.htm |title=From Critical Reflections to Forward Progression |access-date=2005-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104162056/http://home4.inet.tele.dk/lepan/lene/indiana/mscritical.htm |archive-date=November 4, 2005 |df=mdy }}
• David DuKKKe (David Duke),{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdGSbDaCQVsC&pg=PA315|title=Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement|date=1997|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=9780807846384|edition=illustrated, revised|page=315|access-date=29 May 2015}} former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, candidate for United States Senate, candidate for Governor of Louisiana, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist

==Currency signs==

{{Redirect|U$|the currency of the United States|United States dollar|the currency of Uruguay|Uruguayan peso}}

Currency symbols like €, $ and £ can be inserted in place of the letters E, S and L respectively to indicate plutocracy, greed, corruption, or the perceived immoral, unethical, or pathological accumulation of money. For example:

• Bu$h (for George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, or the Bush family){{cite web|url=https://www.ledevoir.com/non-classe/41033/stoppez-bu-h |title=«Stoppez Bu$h |date=November 20, 2003 |publisher=Le Devoir }}{{cite web|url=http://archive.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=8158 |title=Caught in the Crossfire: What Will Bu$h Do About Corporate Corruption? |publisher=Archive.democrats.com |date=June 28, 2002 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/11/281262.html |title=UK Indymedia - Stop Bu$h - National Demonstration - Thursday 20th |publisher=Indymedia.org.uk |date=November 20, 2003 }}
• Congre$$ (for United States Congress){{Cite web|url=https://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/06/17/congre-heal-thyself|title=Congre$$, Heal Thyself|website=Common Dreams|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02}}
• Co$ or $cientology (for the Church of Scientology):{{cite web|url=http://www.xenu.org/cartoon/ |title=The $cientology Cartoon Page |access-date=2005-02-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302124138/http://www.xenu.org/cartoon/ |archive-date=March 2, 2007 }}{{Cite web|url=https://lermanet.com/PhotoLIES.html |title=Scientology LIES to Media doctored photos proof|website=Lermanet|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920185815/https://lermanet.com/PhotoLIES.html |archive-date=2024-09-20|access-date=2020-04-02}} see also Scientology controversies.
• Di$ney and Di$neyland (for The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland):{{cite web|url=http://www.bakersfield.com/news/opinion/2014/12/17/joe-mathews-di-neyland-ought-to-give-kids-a-break.html|title=JOE MATHEWS: Di$neyland ought to give kids a break|work=The Bakersfield Californian|date=December 16, 2014 }} see also Criticism of the Walt Disney Company and Disneyland § Tickets
• E$$o (for Esso): Used by the UK-based Stop Esso campaign encouraging people to boycott Esso, in protest against Esso's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol.{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/climate/interview-with-a-stop-esso-activist|title=Interview with a Stop Esso activist|work=Greenpeace|date=November 29, 2001|access-date=December 28, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108231651/http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/climate/interview-with-a-stop-esso-activist|archive-date=January 8, 2016|df=mdy-all}}
• €urope (for Europe){{cite web|title=€urope's role in the €nergy €volution|url=https://www.globalinvestorgroup.com/articles/3693164/-uropes-role-in-the-nergy-volution|access-date=April 26, 2020}}
• Ke$ha (singer-songwriter): adopted the dollar sign in her name while financially struggling as an ironic gesture.{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/K/Kesha/2010/01/19/12529526-qmi.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719144251/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/K/Kesha/2010/01/19/12529526-qmi.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 19, 2012 |title=View Single Post - Pop sensation Ke$ha gutsy, fearless |publisher=jam.canoe.ca |date=January 19, 2010 }}
• Micro$oft, M$, M$FT (for Microsoft):{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/21/microsoft_edge_bounty/|title=Microsoft: Reckon our code is crap? Prove it and $30k could be yours |first=Richard |last=Speed |date=21 August 2019|website=www.theregister.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02}}{{Cite web|url=https://zoom.cnews.ru/publication/item/37160|title=С такими друзьями враги не нужны: обзор топ-смартфона Nokia Lumia 900|website=ZOOM.CNews.ru|language=ru|access-date=2020-04-02}} see also Criticism of Microsoft
• $ony (for Sony){{Cite web|url=https://www.newsinside.org/ps4-scene-nem-todo-heroi-usa-capa/|title=[PS4 Scene] Nem todo herói usa capa! – NewsInside|date=March 17, 2020 |language=pt-BR|access-date=2020-04-02}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.gry-online.pl/hardware/sciaganie-gier-na-ps4-bedzie-wolniejsze-sony-obniza-predkosc/z01d920|title=Ściąganie gier na PS4 będzie wolniejsze - Sony obniża prędkość {{!}} GRYOnline.pl|work=GRY-Online.pl|access-date=2020-04-02|language=pl-PL}}
• United $tates, U$, U$A (for the United States){{Cite web|url=https://anti-imperialism.org/tag/united-tates/|title=United $tates|website=Anti-Imperialism.org|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402072127/https://anti-imperialism.org/tag/united-tates/|archive-date=2020-04-02|access-date=2020-04-02}}
• £$€ for the London School of Economics{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Occasionally a word written in its orthodox spelling is altered with internal capital letters, hyphens, italics, or other devices so as to highlight a fortuitous pun. Some examples:

• After the controversial 2000 United States presidential election, the alleged improprieties of the election prompted the use of such titles as "pResident" and "(p)resident" for George W. Bush.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010326&s=contest|title=Name the President!|date=March 18, 2006|website=The Nation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20060530225708/http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010326&s=contest|archive-date=May 30, 2006}} The same effects were also used for Bill Clinton during and after Clinton's impeachment hearings.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} These devices were intended to suggest that the president was merely the resident of the White House rather than the legitimate leader.
• The controversial United States law USA PATRIOT Act is sometimes called "USA PAT RIOT Act" or "(Pat)Riot Act" by its opponents.{{cite web|url=http://www.stallman.org/pat-riot-act.html|title=PAT RIOT Act - Richard Stallman|publisher=Stallman.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409035111/https://stallman.org/pat-riot-act.html|archive-date=April 9, 2016|access-date=April 2, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/beijing-reads-democracy-hong-kong-the-patriot-act|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208154348/https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/beijing-reads-democracy-hong-kong-the-patriot-act|url-status=unfit|archive-date=December 8, 2019|title=Beijing Reads Democracy in Hong Kong the (Pat)Riot Act|last=Tkacik|first=John|website=The Heritage Foundation|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02}} This is done to avoid using the common term Patriot Act, which implies the law is patriotic.
• Feminist theologian Mary Daly has used a slash to make a point about patriarchy: "gyn/ecology", "stag/nation", "the/rapist".{{Cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/it/feature/1999/03/17feature.html|title=Battling stag/nation|last=Priluck|first=Jill|date=March 1999|website=Salon Ivory Tower|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050128070855/http://www.salon.com/it/feature/1999/03/17feature.html|archive-date=January 28, 2005|access-date=2020-04-02}}
• In French, where con is an insulting word meaning "moron", the word conservateur (conservative) has been written "con-servateur",{{cite web|url=http://membres.lycos.fr/prince2/Elections/J30.HTM |title=Elections Québec '98 |date=June 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611134857/http://membres.lycos.fr/prince2/Elections/J30.HTM |archive-date=June 11, 2008 }} "con... servateur",{{cite web|url=http://www.chantiers.org/cri.htm |title=cri |publisher=Chantiers.org }} or "con(servateur)".{{cite web|url=http://www.france-mail-forum.de/fmf31/pol/31ruscio.htm |title=France-Mail-Forum Nr. 31: Politique et histoire |date=June 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611123723/http://www.france-mail-forum.de/fmf31/pol/31ruscio.htm |archive-date=June 11, 2008 }} The American English term neo-con, an abbreviation of neo-conservative, becomes a convenient pun when used in French.{{cite web|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=893321 |title=Les deux vies de " Wolfie ", le " néo-con " au " coeur qui saigne |publisher=LeMonde.fr }} In English, the first syllable of conservative can be emphasized to suggest a con artist.{{cite web|author=Jane Kleeb |url=http://www.boldnebraska.org/con-servative-bait-and-switch |title="Con"servative Bait and Switch |publisher=Boldnebraska.org |date=July 2, 2010 |access-date=2012-04-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402114344/http://www.boldnebraska.org/con-servative-bait-and-switch |archive-date=April 2, 2012 |df=mdy }}
• Filipino netizens gave Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. the derisive nickname "MandaramBONG" (Filipino word for plunderer) to highlight allegations that he pocketed pork barrel funds through the use of fake non-government organizations.{{cite web|url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/01/20/14/mandarambong-netizens-twit-revilla-speech |title='MandaramBong': Netizens twit Revilla speech |work=ABS-CBN News |date=2014-01-20}}
• Jair Bolsonaro has been called BolsoNero, due to the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires and indifference to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2020/03/26/brazils-president-fiddles-as-a-pandemic-looms|title=BolsoNERO, Brazil's President Fiddles as a Pandemic Looms|newspaper=The Economist |date=2020-03-26}}{{cite web|url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/as-amazon-rainforest-burns-indigenous-women-call-on-world-for-support-0TeFzfNieEG1QhM-8QE2eg|title=As Amazon Rainforest Burns, Indigenous Women Call on Support |work=Indian Country Today|date=2019-08-23}}

In the mid-2000s, lolcat image macros were captioned with deliberate misspellings, known as "lolspeak", such as a cat asking "I can haz cheezburger?"{{cite news |last1=Silverman |first1=Dwight |title=Web photo phenomenon centers on felines, poor spelling |url=https://www.chron.com/business/silverman/article/Web-photo-phenomenon-centers-on-felines-poor-1809345.php |access-date=9 October 2021 |work=Chron |date=5 June 2007}} Blogger Anil Dash described the intentionally poor spelling and fractured grammar as "kitty pidgin".

The negative squared letter B (🅱️; originally used to represent blood type B){{Cite web|url=https://emojipedia.org/negative-squared-latin-capital-letter-b/|title=🅱️ Negative Squared Latin Capital Letter B Emoji|website=emojipedia.org|language=en|access-date=2019-09-21}} can be used to replace hard consonants as an internet meme. This originates from the practice of members of the Bloods replacing the letter C with the letter B, but has been extended to any consonant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/b-emoji-meme/|title=Behind B Emoji, the Meme Tearing the Internet Apart|last=Hathaway|first=Jay|date=2017-06-16|website=The Daily Dot|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617001141/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/b-emoji-meme/|archive-date=June 17, 2017|access-date=2020-04-02}}Smith, Debra; Whitmore, Kathryn F. (2006). Literacy and Advocacy in Adolescent Family, Gang, School, and Juvenile Court Communities. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. {{ISBN|0-8058-5599-8}}. Common examples are:

• Ni🅱️🅱️a, replacing nigga. Some non-black people have been criticised for using this as if the taboo around the word did not apply.
• 🅱️loods for Bloods.
• 🅱️eter for Peter Griffin.

Various different instances of intentional misspellings of animal names have been made as internet memes. The mid-2000s lolcat memes used spellings such as kitteh for kitty.Geier, Thom, et al. (December 11, 2009). "[https://ew.com/article/2009/12/04/100-greatest-movies-tv-shows-and-more/ The 100 Greatest Movies, TV shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music Videos, and Trends that entertained us over the past 10 Years] ". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84

The internet slang of DoggoLingo, which appeared around the same time, spells dog as doggo and also includes respelled words for puppy (pupper) and other animals such as bird (birb) and snake (snek).{{Cite web|url=https://outwardhound.com/furtropolis/awww/doggolingo-a-guide-to-the-internets-favorite-dog-language|title=Doggolingo: A Guide to the Internet's Favorite Language|website= OutwardHound.com|first= Tegan|last= Chidester|date= 12 March 2020|accessdate= 13 June 2021}} Respellings in DoggoLingo usually alter the pronunciation of the word.

{{See also|Misnomer}}

Along the same lines, intentional misspellings can be used to promote a specific negative attribute, real or perceived, of a product or service. This is especially effective if the misspelling is done by replacing part of the word with another that has identical phonetic qualities.

Journalists may make a politicized editorial decision by choosing to differentially retain (or even create) misspellings, mispronunciations, ungrammaticisms, dialect variants, or interjections.

The British political satire magazine Private Eye has a long-standing theme of insulting the law firm Carter-Ruck by replacing the R with an F to read Carter-Fuck. The law firm once requested that Private Eye cease spelling its name like that; the magazine then started spelling it "Farter-Fuck".{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1450022/Peter-Carter-Ruck.html|title=Peter Carter-Ruck|date=22 December 2003|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=27 January 2015}} Likewise, Private Eye often refers to The Guardian as The Grauniad,{{Cite news|last=Sherrin|first=Ned|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/dec/16/society|title=Surely shome mishtake?|date=16 December 2000|work=The Guardian|location=London|author-link=Ned Sherrin}} due to the newspaper's early reputation for typographical errors.{{cite book|last=Bernhard|first=Jim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oO5fWi6dikC&pg=PA26|title=Porcupine, Picayune, & Post: how newspapers get their names|publisher=University of Missouri Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8262-1748-6|pages=26–27|access-date=11 August 2013}}

{{Main|Backronym}}

Plays on acronyms and initialisms are also common, when the full name is spelled out but one of the component words is replaced by another. For example, Richard Stallman and other Free Software Foundation executives often refer to digital rights management as "digital restrictions management".{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.html|title=Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement (Or Digital Restrictions Management, as we now call it)?|access-date=29 May 2014}} a reference to the tendency for DRM to stifle the end user's ability to reshare music or write CDs more than a certain number of times. Likewise, the National Security Agency is often referred to as the "National Surveillance Agency"{{cite web|url=http://video.foxnews.com/v/2615652243001/national-surveillance-agency-audit-reveals-nsa-violations|title=National 'Surveillance' Agency? Audit reveals NSA violations|work=Fox News|date=February 4, 2017 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/18295/20130614/nsa-prism-apple-google-microsoft-glass-xbox.htm |title=National Surveillance Agency: Looking At Google Glass, Xbox One Through The NSA's Prism [OPINION] |date=June 14, 2013 |work=iDigitalTimes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928032348/http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/18295/20130614/nsa-prism-apple-google-microsoft-glass-xbox.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |df=mdy }}{{cite web|url=http://n4g.com/news/1282615/national-surveillance-agency-looking-at-google-glass-xbox-one-through-the-nsas-prism|title=National Surveillance Agency: Looking At Google Glass, Xbox One Through The NSA's Prism|work=n4g.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=40803 |title=National Surveillance Agency program is still ongoing |author=Catholic Online |work=catholic.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225144748/http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=40803 |archive-date=December 25, 2013 |df=mdy }} and sometimes "National Socialist Agency"{{Cite web |url=http://quartermoonsaloon.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-21247.html |title=National Socialist Agency (NSA) documents reveal... |access-date=March 11, 2016 |archive-date=March 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312013031/http://quartermoonsaloon.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-21247.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web | url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/national_socialist_agency_national_security_agency_or_nsa_nickname |title = Barry Popik}} by opponents of its PRISM program, who view it as dystopian encroachment on personal privacy.

• Cacography
• Eye dialect
• Herstory
• Leet
• Play on words
• Pun
• Sensational spelling
• Womyn

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040925080243/http://home4.inet.tele.dk/lepan/lene/indiana/jun00.htm#Mangwiro On de spelling and use of various words] by Mangwiro A. Sadiki-Yisrael

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satiric Misspelling}}

Category:Nonstandard spelling

Category:Political communication

Category:Puns

Misspelling