Satiric misspelling
A satiric misspelling is an intentional misspelling of a word, phrase or name for a rhetorical purpose. This can be achieved with intentional Malapropism (e.g. replacing erection for election), Enallage, or simply replacing a letter with another letter (for example, in English, k replacing c), or symbol (for example, in languages using the Latin character set, $ replacing s). Satiric misspelling is found widely today in informal writing on the Internet, but can also be found in some serious political writing that opposes the status quo.
K replacing c[]
In political writing[]
Replacing the letter c with k in the first letter of a word came into use 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 § 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.[1][2][3] 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.[1]
A similar usage in Italian, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese[citation needed] is to write okupa rather than ocupa (often on a building or area occupied by squatters,[4][better source needed] 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.[5]
In humor[]
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!"[6]
KKK replacing c or k[]
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.[7]
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)[8]
- Demokkkrat (U.S. Democratic Party)[9]
- KKKapitalism (capitalism)[10]
- David DuKKKe (David Duke),[11] former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, candidate for United States Senate, candidate for Governor of Louisiana, and web antisemitic conspiracy theorist
Currency signs[]
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)[12][13][14]
- Congre$$ (for United States Congress)[15]
- Co$ or $cientology (for the Church of Scientology):[16][17][18] see also Scientology controversies.
- Di$ney and Di$neyland (for The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland):[19] see also Criticism of The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland § Tickets
- E$$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.[20]
- €urope (for Europe)[21]
- Ke$ha (singer-songwriter): adopted the dollar sign in her name while financially struggling as an ironic gesture.[22]
- Micro$oft, M$, M$FT (for Microsoft):[23][24] see also Criticism of Microsoft
- $ony (for Sony)[25][26]
- United $tates (for the United States)[27]
Word-in-word[]
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.[28] The same effects were also used for Bill Clinton during and after Clinton's impeachment hearings.[citation needed] These devices were intended to suggest that the president was merely the resident of the White House rather than the legitimate leader.[28]
- After the 2016 elections those who did not like the president chosen by the Electoral College referred to him as tRump.
- The controversial United States law USA PATRIOT Act is sometimes called "USA PAT RIOT Act" or "(Pat)Riot Act" by its opponents.[29][30] This is done to avoid using the common term Patriot Act, which implies the law is patriotic.[29]
- Feminist theologian Mary Daly has used a slash to make a point about patriarchy: "gyn/ecology", "stag/nation", "the/rapist".[31]
- In French, where con is an insulting word meaning "moron", the word conservateur (conservative) has been written "con-servateur",[32] "con... servateur",[33] or "con(servateur)".[34] The American English term neo-con, an abbreviation of neo-conservative, becomes a convenient pun when used in French.[35] In English, the first syllable of conservative can be emphasized to suggest a con artist.[36]
- Netizens often called Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. as "MandaramBONG" (Filipino word for plunderer) to highlight allegations that he pocketed pork barrel funds through the use of fake non-government organizations.[37]
- Jair Bolsonaro has been called BolsoNero, due to the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires and indifference to the COVID-19 pandemic.[38][39]
In internet memes[]
"B" emoji replacing hard consonants[]
The negative squared letter B (