> There is an issue with "kilometer" being a complex word for everyday use (as compared to a mile) in the English language. That's more a linguistic issue that about the unit itself. Other languages have solutions to that with shorter colloquial name for the unit.
Even in English people of a certain age can say "klicks" and be understood.
Exactly, it's something that mass usage will solve, even if the folk song will not sound just the same with "a hundred klicks, a hundred klicks, I am five hundred klicks away from home".
Other languages often say just letters "k" or "km".
Even in English people of a certain age can say "klicks" and be understood.