I disagree. I think anyone who's worked with either will recognize i18n or k8s. They're unambiguous, memorable, and search well. That's more than can be said about most acronyms. The alternative for single words is to use just part of the word (like intrn or kube) and I think those are less memorable and more ambiguous.

k8s sounded ok until other related software started using the same convention. now we have k3s, k9s, k2s and probably more

I mean, Kubernetes is a really stupid name for what it is, but I guess Docker was already taken. I'm going to make my own containerizing system and call it deghwI', which is "helmsman" in Klingon.