Jim in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, says that during childhood games of touch football, he and his friends would count out the required three seconds before rushing as Mississippi one, Mississippi two, Mississippi three. Other ways of counting seconds, whether for touch football or the time between a flash of lightning and thunder, include one Mississippi, two Mississippi or one thousand one, one thousand two. In England, this kind of rhythmic counting is sometimes rendered as Piccadilly one, Piccadilly two. Many English-speaking countries have a whole menagerie of words to choose from, including hippopotamus, chimpanzee, crocodile, and alligator. In France, the word Mississippi is sometimes used, along with crocodile. In Poland, the word for “crocodile” is also used for counting. Swedes sometimes use the Swedish equivalent of one thousand one. Germans start at the number 20, using einundzwanzig, zweiundzwanzig, meaning “21, 22,” and a similar pattern is used in Hebrew and Danish, although Danes also measure time by counting “barrels of beer.” This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Martha and Grant send occasional messages with language headlines, event announcements, linguistic tidbits, and episode reminders. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.