Strike Out The K

Yet another of my linguistic pet peeves is the gratuitous substitution of the letter "k" for "c" in an effort to force alliteration of come up with something kute...er, cute and memorable. But sometimes it's Just. Plain. Lame.

Like the RV I passed on the New Jersey Turnpike today that had "Kountry Star" painted on it. What is the point of the "K" here, outside of saying: "I'm An Idiot? "

Sometimes, the goal is cutesy alliteration, e.g. the preschools that go by the name of "Kids' Kampus" or "Kids' Kollege." However, if the goal of the school is to promote thought, socialization, and perhaps a shred of literacy, couldn't you maybe just keep the "c" for "campus" or "college?" Doesn't "competent" trump "cute?"

Alliteration can go way too far, e.g. the hairstylists' salon that goes by the name of "Klip & Kurl." Last I checked the OED, neither "Clip" nor "Curl" had a variant starting with the letter "K." So why go through all the effort to look stupid?

Full disclosure: at the Comics Curmudgeon blog, a group of stalwart posters once dubbed ourselves the Kollege of Komix Kardinals, until we came to the realization that none of the words started with "K," and further, we didn't need an organization with the initials "KKK." Hence, we are now the College of Comix Cardinals, but have retained the electric blue beanies. (Thankfully, these were not embroidered with initials.)

Which brings us to about the only situation where the alliterative "K" is appropriate: why, the Ku Klux Klan, of course. Heinous though they are, spelling "Clan" as designed just wouldn't work.

Have you seen any good ones? Why can't we just spell things as they are? Or does the fact that 60 million people took the time, interest, and text-messaging costs to vote for the "American Idol" winner simply bear out the fact that we're A Nation Of Idiots?