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Some of you may be familiar with the San-X line of characters called
[すみっコぐらし](http://www.san-x.co.jp/sumikko/). The shtick is that they're timid
and like "living (ぐらし) in the corner (すみっこ)"

I know katakana is frequently used for emphasis, but what is the wordplay
intended by writing just the single syllable コ in すみっこ in katakana?

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/G4HTK.png)
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2015-04-28T22:46:45.180
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katakana puns copywriting
Why the random katakana in 「すみっコぐらし」?
First of all, saying 隅っこ versus just 隅 is something of a colloquialism to
begin with. And writing it with a コ instead of こ seems like a stylistic choice
by a marketing team who is trying to be as cute as possible.

Look at how katakana is used in advertising and you will find many examples of
how something normally written in hiragana/kanji has been switched out for
katakana. This is often a marketing strategy used to make the text more eye-
catching.
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2015-04-29T09:57:08.220
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What is a "corner" shaped like? ;)

In addition to drawing your attention by being unusual, it's visually
appropriate for the meaning. I'd suggest it's as much/more a graphic design
choice than any linguistic emphasis.
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2015-04-29T23:59:59.753
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2015-04-30T00:08:49.510
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To me, すみっコ looks cuter and tinier than すみっこ.

Similarly, はしっコ、ちびっコ、ひよっコ、いたずらっコ look a bit cuter, more casual/friendly, less
serious and/or more playful than 端っこ/はしっこ、ちびっ子/ちびっこ、ひよっ子/ひよっこ、いたずらっ子/いたずらっこ,
don't you think?
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2015-12-06T13:18:47.277
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