In the U.K., they don’t count seconds as “one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi,” because, well, they have no Mississippi. Instead, they say “one-elephant, two-elephant.” Lynne Murphy, author of the blog Separated by a Common Language, points out this difference between English speakers on opposite sides of the pond. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “One Elephant, Two Elephant”
You know Lynn Murphy, who runs the blog Separated by a Common Language? Yes, she talks about the differences between the different Englishes in the world, particularly British versus American.
Yes, she mentioned something in Twitter that I did not know, which is that in the UK they sometimes count seconds differently?
Of course.
I mean, it makes sense. We say in the United States, most of us say one 1,000, two 1,000, right?
Oh, I say one Mississippi.
Right. We would say Mississippi because it’s an American river and this is an American continent. We’re Americans.
But did you know that some people there say one elephant, two elephant, three elephant?
Really?
Yeah. Maybe most of them. I had no idea. Never heard of that. Wow.
Who knew that there were other ways to count the seconds?
I don’t know. And I wonder what it is in other languages, too.
Right. There’s got to be something in every language.
Yeah. Well, how do you count the seconds in your language or where you’re from? Give us a call, 877-929-9673, or email us at words@waywordradio.org.
