Bizarrely, if I write UK on my iPad, if often changes it to UdotKdot which, for some reason, the forum software coverts to you.K.

The forum has a swearbot.

One of its functions is to reduce text speak to make posts easier to follow for non-native English speakers.

A letter_U on its own is transformed to "you"

Hence UK, not you.K.

Is it not smart enough to spot when the letter_U is followed or preceded by other characters?

It's the punctuation: it works on words and naively, V.K. is two 'words'. (pretend the V has a pert rounded bottom )

I didn't think we got much text speak on here these days. It's not a big deal but I either fight my iPad or the forum - I thought we'd voted for freedom and the right to decide

Funnily when I worked at Philips, I needed to use the term 510(k) quite a lot. On Lync (the MS instant messaging system) it converted (k) to a kiss emoji - pretty embarrassing if you're communicating with a (male) colleague...

It's your iPad not realising that UK is, in general usage, not punctuated.

Yup - I don't know why it's started to do that - or why it only corrects on some occasions. Some Apple autocorrects are really irritating

Partly because the swearbot converts most of it to normal written English by the time it appears on the screen.

So I can save time by writing my posts in text speak...

C you later

Almost...

Could be worse. Could be pictograms. Heiroglyphs.

"How do I change the turbo?"
"Squiggle, ear of corn, bird walking backwards, scythe, whip."

The problem is that I don't even write texts in text speak...

Good grief! Remember to close the garage door before you use that method. The neighbours might never recover from the shock.