# How do non-American native English speakers count seconds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014 "2020-08-01T20:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/1 "2020-08-01T20:09:37Z")
In the US, the common practice is to use “1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi…” until the desired number of seconds is reached. What is protocol for other English speaking countries? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/2 "2020-08-01T20:32:21Z")
I think the British have lots, but one in common with the US is one one thousand two one thousand… ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/3 "2020-08-01T21:34:16Z")
I’ve been told that “piccadilly” is a common variant. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/4 "2020-08-01T21:39:09Z")
In Australia I know of ‘One Mississipi …’ from TV but haven’t heard it actually used. We learned ‘One one thousand …’ at school, but most commonly I’ve heard ‘One aaaaaaaand Two aaaaaaaand …’ which is simultaneously less accurate and more annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/5 "2020-08-01T22:28:55Z")
In Canada I’ve heard “one steamboat, two steamboat” etc, but I don’t know if that’s a Canadian thing or more widespread. We usually just use Mississippi though. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/6 "2020-08-01T22:44:48Z")
I learned “steamboat” as a child but I use Mississippi now. There’s no good reason for it. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/7 "2020-08-01T23:20:36Z")
One cat-and-dog, Two cat-and-dog I don’t know where I was when I learned that. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/8 "2020-08-02T02:45:45Z")
Same. That’s what we did in primary school (in … Melbourne! I don’t remember what they did when I was in Scotland) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/9 "2020-08-02T04:27:42Z")
I (in the UK) don’t remember anything specifically for this purpose. There’s a vague memory of a rhyme for a game of some sort, something like _One potato, two potato, three potato, four; Five potato, six potato, one potato more_ ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/10 "2020-08-02T04:38:53Z")
My mother tells the story of when she was in high school in Taipei, and as part of an object lesson/experiment, she and her classmates were instructed to sit down and close their eyes in silence and only stand up when they sensed that exactly 1 minute had gone by, to see whose internal clock was the most accurate. She had previously been told before that literally saying the word “second” (_miaozhong_) in her head “_yi miaozhong, lian miaozhong, san miaozhong_” (“one second, two seconds, three seconds…”) was the most accurate way to do such a thing. So that’s what she did, counting it in her head, and she was one of the most accurate students to stand up at the 1-minute mark. I haven’t heard seconds counted any other way in Mandarin, whether playing hide-and-seek or in any other context - aside from directly saying one, two, three. That being said, unfortunately, being only a two-syllable word, it’s easy for someone to cheat by rattling off “miaozhongs” far faster than an actual second. You could squeeze in three _miaozhongs_ if adept enough. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/11 "2020-08-02T08:36:43Z")
One potato… etc is just a simple counting rhymr for children When I was a boy in the 1950s, we used Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/12 "2020-08-02T15:59:01Z")
I just count, and I’m reasonably accurate. But here in the UK One Elephant, Two Elephants… is often used. Here’s an example from the movie [Gregory’s Girl](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7jpfy) - @ ~ 1.34. j ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/13 "2020-08-02T16:00:45Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > One potato… etc is just a simple counting rhymr for children The adult version is one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor… ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/14 "2020-08-02T17:31:04Z")
I’ve always used “one one thousand” version - never even heard of the “Mississippi” version before, and I’m in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/15 "2020-08-02T17:35:53Z")
Einundzwanzig, zweiundzwanzig (21, 22) in German. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/16 "2020-08-02T20:10:34Z")
That’s surprising. Off the top of my head I can think of episodes of “Friends” and “Big Bang Theory” where using Mississippi was a prominent plot point. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/17 "2020-08-03T11:11:11Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I just count, and I’m reasonably accurate. But here in the UK One Elephant, Two Elephants… is often used. Here’s an example from the movie [Gregory’s Girl](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7jpfy) - @ ~ 1.34. Concur with this, although I also know the potato version. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/18 "2020-08-03T13:04:53Z")
Elephants? Never heard that, only “thousand.” ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/19 "2020-08-03T14:14:05Z")
In Norway it’s tusen og en, tusen og to, tusen og tre. (Thousand and one, thousand and two …) Also used in massive “don’t tailgate!”-campaigns in the slogan: Hold avstand! 1001-1002-1003 ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014/20 "2020-08-03T14:17:41Z")
(And @PatrickLondon) The one potato thing I only ever knew as a playground “fist-stacking” game. “Fist-stacking” was the only way I could think of to describe it, but it turns out I’m not the first to use the phrase - section 2 of [this](https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/03/hand-games-for-fidgety-kids.html), for example, is about fist-stacking games. Anyways: One Potato - first kid, first fist Two potato - second kid, first fist Three potato - third kid, first fist Four - fourth kid, first fist Five potato - first kid, second fist Six potato - second kid, second fist Seven potato - third kid, second fist More - fourth kid, second fist; AND everyone pulls fists out of the stack and piles them on top to much hilarity. Counting seconds? Nah, not where I come from. j [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-non-american-native-english-speakers-count-seconds/917014.md?page=2)