Potassium (K) is called Kalium in New Latin and a variation thereof in plenty of languages. It makes far more sense. The symbol's K in the periodic table an the eymological link with alkali is in the word. The Brits don't have a leg to stand on.

Then again, Americans are stupid about the metric system. Think they can't visualize what 1 meter is, but almost every American can visualize the length of an M16A4 just fine.