Re: Re. Usage of K(ilo)

[Kent Newton <KentN -at- METRIX-INC -dot- COM>]

Again, I checked the American Heritage Dictionary (Third Edition) on the
use of K (or k) and found the following uses:
====================
k^1 or K (k3)
n.
pl. k 's or K 's
1. The 11th letter of the modern English alphabet.
2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter k.
3. The 11th in a series.
4. Something shaped like the letter K.
==
k^2
abbr. 1. K arat.
==
K^1
n.
pl. K 's
Slang 1. One thousand dollars.
[ k (ilo)-]
==
K^2
1. The symbol for the element potassium.
[ From kali, potassium from Arabic qily, alkali from qal3, to bake]
==
K^3
abbr. 1. K aon.
2. K elvin (temperature scale)
3. Computer Science  K ilobyte.
4. K indergarten.
Games  5. Or k . K ing (chess)
Bible  6.  Kings.
7. Or k . Knight.
============
Like so many words in English, the letter k (or K) is used for many
different, and sometimes conflicting, purposes.  Therefore, the uppercase
K stands equally for:

= $ 1,000
= 1,024 bytes
= Kelvin temperature scale
= potassium
= Kindergarten
= chess King
= the biblical books of Kings
= knight

while the lowercase K stands equally for:

= the 11th item in a series (a use I've never seen before)
= Karat
= something shaped like a K
= chess King
= knight

As careful writers (and readers) we have to be aware of the context in
which the abbreviation appears.

Kent Newton
Senior Technical Writer
Metrix, Inc.
kentn -at- metrix-inc -dot- com