The high-frequency collective dynamics of molten potassium has been investigated by inelastic x-ray scattering, disclosing an energy/momentum transfer region unreachable by previous inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments. We find that a two-step relaxation scenario, similar to that found in other liquid metals, applies to liquid potassium. In particular, we show how the sound velocity determined by INS experiments, exceeding the hydrodynamic value by approximate to30%, is the higher limit of a speedup, located in the momentum region 1 < Q < 3 nm(-1) which marks the departure from the isothermal value. We point out how this phenomenology is the consequence of a microscopic relaxation process that, in turn, can be traced back to the presence of "instantaneous" disorder, rather than to the crossover from a liquid to solidlike response. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.