# Counting seconds in other countries. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293 "2006-07-27T17:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/41 "2006-07-28T17:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=mittu] Well it makes sense to me to start at zero, if you were to begin counting and you started at one you would always be a second ahead, for example if you start a stopwatch and immediately start counting ‘one Mississippi two Mississippi…’ then at the point you say two the clock will say one, at the point you say three the clock will say two and so on. Doesn’t that make more sense or am I missing something fundamental in counting I haven’t realised before? [/QUOTE] I have usually seen this when a person is given a set time to wait for something – usually 10 seconds. In these cases, the person is counting the seconds that are passing, not the seconds that have already passed, so the first second is “one” and you go all the way up to “10” and when you’re finished you’ve counted 10 seconds. If you do it your way, then in order to count off 10 seconds, you have to stop at nine. Not as instinctive. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/42 "2006-07-29T01:30:55Z")
[QUOTE=mittu] Well it makes sense to me to start at zero, if you were to begin counting and you started at one you would always be a second ahead, for example if you start a stopwatch and immediately start counting ‘one Mississippi two Mississippi…’ then at the point you say two the clock will say one, at the point you say three the clock will say two and so on. Doesn’t that make more sense or am I missing something fundamental in counting I haven’t realised before? [/QUOTE] Yep, I think you’re missing it. When you say “One Mississippi” you’re doing that to count through the second. In other words, at the end of the expression, you’re at one second passed, not zero seconds passed. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/43 "2006-07-29T09:38:11Z")
**Boy from Mars** is Italian and he says in Italian you say “tremilla uno, tremilla due, tremilla tre…”, which translates as three thousand one, three thousand two etc. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/44 "2006-07-29T10:32:32Z")
I was pondering this very subject just the other day. For me, it’s one, one-thousand; two, one-thousand. But as I was thinking about it, I realized that the “one-thousand” in my head/voice is longer than an actual second. I now have to break that habit and just try counting normally. One (short pause), Two (short pause), etc. It’s gonna be hard because I’ve counted things in my head obsessively for years. I count while I’ve got the curling iron on my bangs (to twelve, one-thousand). I count when I wake up in the middle of the night and need a swig from the tap to quench my thirst. That counting is kinda disturbing, actually. It will be a hard habit to break, but I’m up for it! NO MORE NEEDLESS COUNTING! ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/45 "2006-07-29T14:59:22Z")
One one-thousand, two one-thousand… born and raised in Victoria, Australia. Mr Cazzle uses Mississippi, probably thanks to his Texan upbringing. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/46 "2006-07-29T15:07:18Z")
Southeast Michigan (with Hoosier parents): I heard both One-Thousand-One and One-Mississippi (and could not, now, tell you whether one parent or the other preferred one expression). (I first heard it while waiting for thermometers to be held long enough to get a reading, thus learning it at home rather than the school yard.) ---
**Author:** ![Tikkiw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@Tikkiw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikkiw)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/47 "2006-07-29T22:02:21Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] For that matter, what do the Yankees do? Do y’all use Mississippi as well? [/QUOTE] There is a rather long river of the same name that extends well into the domain of yankees. I’ve actually never thought of the Mississippis in counting being named after the state. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/48 "2006-07-29T22:08:49Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Steamboats in Canada, for as long as I can remember… [/QUOTE] Not for me. Growing up in Calgary for me and my friends it was “one one-thousand; two-one-thousand; three-one-thousand” or using Mississippis. ---
**Author:** ![Erika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/47e85d/32.png) [@Erika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erika)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/49 "2006-07-29T23:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=Tikkiw] I’ve actually never thought of the Mississippis in counting being named after the state. [/QUOTE] I did. And counted Mississippis when I was little, just outside of Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/50 "2006-07-31T00:17:22Z")
[QUOTE=abby] How fascinating. When I was growing up, it was “one-cat-and-dog, two-cat-and-dog”. [/QUOTE] Yep, this was the same for me and my brother. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/51 "2006-07-31T00:25:55Z")
We had three variations: “Mississippi”, “one-thousand”, and "alligator. I liked “alligator” the best, because I could say it the fastest. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/52 "2006-07-31T11:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=Suburban Plankton] We had three variations: “Mississippi”, “one-thousand”, and "alligator. I liked “alligator” the best, because I could say it the fastest. [/QUOTE] Is that defeating the purpose? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293/53 "2006-08-02T19:21:41Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Is that defeating the purpose? 😃 [/QUOTE] No, that’s called “playing by the letter of the rule” 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-seconds-in-other-countries/366293.md?page=2)