tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post1509199359716822095..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: counting secondslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-6922372320055440872023-06-18T23:55:45.143+01:002023-06-18T23:55:45.143+01:00I use parramatta 1 parramatta 2 parramatta 3... Tr...I use parramatta 1 parramatta 2 parramatta 3... Tried Woolloomooloo but it got lost as a tongue twisterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-79879468886319857792021-10-28T02:43:33.392+01:002021-10-28T02:43:33.392+01:00It's from a song by Bobbie Gentry called Missi...It's from a song by Bobbie Gentry called Mississippi Delta from the late 1960sGreenfordangerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563251864681291888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-6414585501717946682021-10-27T23:19:53.896+01:002021-10-27T23:19:53.896+01:00I learned from a children's book (in the USA) ...I learned from a children's book (in the USA) to count seconds as "locomotive one, locomotive two..."<br /><br />The advantage of having the number after the filler word is that the count falls on the end of the second, so it matches what you would say if watching a clock. Using a four-syllable filler word will let you estimate to a rough quarter-second.<br /><br />If you intend to use this sort of count to actually estimate seconds, you must practise by doing the count while watching a clock/watch with a second hand. It doesn't take long to get the rhythm memorised -- and like a song, it will stick with you once you've got it.<br /><br />Robbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13817438530048331339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-84142004919652643312017-11-21T00:43:17.854+00:002017-11-21T00:43:17.854+00:00My mother (born in 1914) was from the Ozarks area ...My mother (born in 1914) was from the Ozarks area in Missouri (that's America - at least for the moment). She used "chimpanzee" and I (now 74, living in Missouri) continue to follow her lead. I'm told that the book St. Nicholas (pg 219) uses "chimpanzee". This book was written by American author Mary Mapes Dodge(1831-1905)who is better known as the author of the book Hans Brinker. Most people that I've heard around the St. Louis area use "Mississippi" but then most people are younger than I. Perhaps, as a child, my mother read St. Nicholas - the years would match this hypothesis. --Anita Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-20638279061572649902014-06-17T05:28:06.606+01:002014-06-17T05:28:06.606+01:00For sure speed counts: one little alligator, two l...For sure speed counts: one little alligator, two little alligators, .... --MassachusettsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-28847559795622147952013-08-01T19:02:37.007+01:002013-08-01T19:02:37.007+01:00one crocodile, two crocodiles, three crocodilesone crocodile, two crocodiles, three crocodileswendy cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111393588395072245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72551647145150660812013-07-25T23:55:14.147+01:002013-07-25T23:55:14.147+01:00What's striking about all these words is how c...What's striking about all these words is how completely useless they are for actually counting seconds. You can speak them convincingly at a huge variety of speeds. If they work at all it's because you have memorised the speed and rhythm -- but under stress (eg when waiting for your parachute to open) you're likely to gabble them at double speed (as someone I know did). Perhaps if the technique was to use a long string of syllables and say them as fast as you physically can? "One Mississippi Mexico, two Mississippi Mexico..." But you still have the fact that "seven" takes more time to say than "two" and "seventeen" takes more again.Harry Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675794936870568336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36953835852679930152013-05-27T11:55:46.057+01:002013-05-27T11:55:46.057+01:00How could I have forgotten? One potato, two potato...How could I have forgotten? <i>One potato, two potato</i>, just wasn't performed like that. I was remembering other 'counting out' routines.<br /><br />What we did was to hold two bunched fists in front of us, thumb-side up, elbows tucked in. The counter went round the circle. For each <i>potato</i> he touched the top of a countee's fist with the bottom of his fist. (Masculine pronouns because I can only remember segregated games.) When he came to himself he touched his left fist with his right, then right with left. Every time he reached <i>more</i> the touched fist was removed and placed behind the the touchee's back. This continued until the final touchee was touched on his his second fist. So, unlike other counting out rhymes, this gave everybody two lives.<br /><br />Now I've remember it, I can see how valuable it all was. It developed my sense of English speech-rhythm, metre and rhyme. It was an introduction to ritual; it seemed important to get the fist gestures precisely right. There was even a prefiguration of a sense of symbolism — not a concept I could have grasped yet. But somehow I sensed that each bunched fist in some way was and in some way wasn't a potato.<br /><br />On the segregation of games. As far as I can remember, the only mixed games were initiated when the girls wanted some kissing. I remember ranks (not files) of boys with arms round each other's shoulders marching and chanting:<br /> <br /><i>Anybody playing at<br />Cowboys and Indians<br />No<br />Girls</i>.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-22530500129313000822013-05-26T23:28:51.986+01:002013-05-26T23:28:51.986+01:00One potato, two potato... was the principle counti...<i>One potato, two potato...</i> was the principle counting rhyme when I was a small boy in Nottingham (in the East Midlands of England) in the 1940's. <br /><br />It was used to select someone by process of elimination. One counter chanted the rhyme, pointing to each of us in turn. When the counter got to <i>more</i>, that person was out and the counting resumed. And so on until there was only one person remaining. The whole thing was a prelude to any game that had to start with one protagonist. I presume this is what East Angle means by 'counting out'.<br /><br />Chants with similar function were <i>Eany, meany, miny mo ...</i> (although it's not acceptable to catch a n-word by the toe any more). There was also at least one spelling version. I seem to remember that the girls had a lot more rhymes than we did, because they could also be used for skipping and ball-bouncing routines.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-52058059781170690642013-05-26T21:52:15.572+01:002013-05-26T21:52:15.572+01:00There is a rhyme that starts out 'one potato, ...There is a rhyme that starts out 'one potato, two potato'. Not about counting seconds, but maybe that's how you picked it up. <br /><br />One potato, two potato,<br />Three potato, four;<br />Five potato, six potato,<br />Seven potato, more!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-67402168029748310122013-05-26T08:24:35.459+01:002013-05-26T08:24:35.459+01:00I'm from Idaho, and I usually say one potato, ...I'm from Idaho, and I usually say one potato, two potato, etc. I don't know where I picked it up, but I didn't make it up. It seems kind of funny now that I think about it because I'm from Idaho, which is famous for its potatoes. I also use Mississippi sometimes. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-20051259519729604852013-03-31T14:40:39.856+01:002013-03-31T14:40:39.856+01:00Sarah, was it Annie? There's a scene near the ...Sarah, was it Annie? There's a scene near the start when she's hiding behind a door at the orphanage trying to prove how adoptable she is and when she hears that the billionaire is looking for an intelligent child she says Em Aye Double Ess Aye Double Ess Aye Double Pee Aye.<br /><br />That scene is both how I learned to spell Mississippi and why I assumed saying double for a repeat letter was standard usage.<br /><br />The other mnemonic listed upthread sounds to me like the theme tune to The Mickey Mouse Club, to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-69473263403587556642012-06-02T16:44:40.583+01:002012-06-02T16:44:40.583+01:00I know 'one potato, two potato' from my US...I know 'one potato, two potato' from my US childhood.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-55896902646888318022012-06-02T09:13:05.862+01:002012-06-02T09:13:05.862+01:00On reading your blog, I was reminded of children&#...On reading your blog, I was reminded of children's counting rhymes in particular 'One potato, two potato, three potato, four ...'. As an Englishman I have always assumed that this example was specifically English. Is there a different American version? There is a selection of these in more than one language on Wkipedia under the heading 'Counting-out games'.East Anglenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-79303830053776175312012-06-01T15:59:29.754+01:002012-06-01T15:59:29.754+01:00In Holland we use 'een en twintig, twee en twi...In Holland we use 'een en twintig, twee en twintig'... which means simply 'twenty one, twenty two', so when counting seconds we tend to start at 21 rather than at 1...erik smithttp://flickr.com/eti-etinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-46669093234014257172012-05-25T12:33:56.976+01:002012-05-25T12:33:56.976+01:00In Polish we use "tysiąc" which is a sim...In Polish we use "tysiąc" which is a simple translation of "thousand". I guess it came from English as a calque.Tlumaczenia Angielskiehttp://www.linguisticatelier.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-31843298706774901812012-05-24T00:04:08.932+01:002012-05-24T00:04:08.932+01:00Going off on a tangent here. I'm French. At pr...Going off on a tangent here. I'm French. At primary school we used to have a skipping song involving counting "un Mississippi, deux Mississippi, trois Mississipi" and so on. It was 25 years ago. I didn't realise what it was about until someone told me it was a way to count seconds. I have no idea how it came to a small village in the French countryside, though.Jastrownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-46556515487128950572012-05-19T15:36:27.099+01:002012-05-19T15:36:27.099+01:00Love Piccadilly, but have never heard about it! Aw...Love Piccadilly, but have never heard about it! Aways used Mississippi, wondering what they might use in Austraia, India or South-Africa ; )Silviahttp://www.native-translator.ch/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-7329445758324406682012-05-02T03:46:45.213+01:002012-05-02T03:46:45.213+01:00Not funny at all, but my father, a navigator in th...Not funny at all, but my father, a navigator in the British navy in WW2, learnt to count seconds as: "I think that's one, I think that's", etc. <br /><br />(Well, I don't think it's funny.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-49412052532891286962012-04-24T15:04:46.466+01:002012-04-24T15:04:46.466+01:00Yes, I would say "Double S", and I'm...Yes, I would say "Double S", and I'm sure it was a US tv show or film.<br /><br />Pink elephants ring a bell with me too, but I wouldn't say it myself.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06148992289166413933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-33841081325534474402012-04-22T21:58:56.505+01:002012-04-22T21:58:56.505+01:00An American, I grew up counting both Mississippis ...An American, I grew up counting both Mississippis and thousands; we learned to spell the former as<br />M-I<br />crooked letter, crooked letter, I<br />crooked letter, crooked letter, I<br />humpback, humpback, IRattyhttp://tronatales.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-85949908383998564252012-04-22T15:53:21.453+01:002012-04-22T15:53:21.453+01:00Growing up in Norfolk, England, but with a mum fro...Growing up in Norfolk, England, but with a mum from Cheshire, I learnt the elephant one but in a slightly different form - one pink elephant, two pink elephants, three pink elephants etc etc.Dothttp://kenanddot.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-15033691900936567442012-04-17T13:10:22.467+01:002012-04-17T13:10:22.467+01:00Spelling with DOUBLE must have been common somewhe...Spelling with DOUBLE must have been common somewhere in America in the twenties, judging by the variants of a blues 'floating' verse.<br /><br />The one I almost remembered was:<br /><br /><i>Got a new way baby : spelling Memphis Tennessee<br />Double M double E : double T double X Y Z</i><br /><br />Fortunately, I was able to get the exact wording by looking up SPELLING in Michael Taft's rather wonderful <a href="http://www.dylan61.se/michael%20taft,%20blues%20anthology.txt.WebConcordance/framconc.htm" rel="nofollow">Pre-war Blues Lyrics Concordance</a>.<br /><br />There are five recordings each with a different variant spelling — the least plausible being:<br /><br /><i>My gal's got a new way : Lord spelling Tennessee<br />Double S double E : double I double A double L</i>. The other four do rhyme.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-49437744467220916282012-04-16T23:20:22.607+01:002012-04-16T23:20:22.607+01:00Do you actually say 'double S' rather than...Do you actually say 'double S' rather than 'S S', Sarah? That would be SUCH a British thing to do with such an American name!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-47420303505169204292012-04-16T22:17:52.903+01:002012-04-16T22:17:52.903+01:00I count kangaroos (NW England). Don't know wh...I count kangaroos (NW England). Don't know where I got it from as I'm fairly sure my parents count thousands.<br /><br />I learnt to spell Mississippi (at speed) from something on TV.<br />M - I<br />Double S - I<br />Double S - I<br />Double P - ISarahhttp://www.sarahinaberdeen.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com