This might be the LEAST pressing issue in the world right now, which is PERFECT for a day like today.
Someone on social media asked NON-AMERICANS: “What is your ‘One Mississippi, Two Mississippi’ or ‘One one thousand, two one thousand’?” And here were some of the responses:
1. In Danish, we have “One case of beer, two cases of beer . . .” (We’re assuming that this isn’t for kids playing hide-and-seek, though.)
2. In Scotland, we have, “One elephant, two elephant . . .” (Even though elephants are rarely seen roaming through the local glens and rolling heather.)
3. In Quebec, we did, “1 hippopotamus, 2 hippopotamus . . .” And another Canadian said, “One steamboat, two steamboat . . .”
4. In China, we have, “1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4 and so on. Then, you usually stop what you’re doing at 10 and repeat.”
5. In Iran, we have, “One and ah, two and ah . . .”
6. In Brazil, we have, “Um indiozinho, dois indiozinhos,” which is, “One indigenous toddler, two Indigenous toddlers . . .”
7. In India, we say, “Tick tick one, tick tick two . . .”
8. In Australia, we’d say, “One cat and dog, two cat and dog . . .” But another Australian said they’ve NEVER heard this in their life.
9. In Mexico, we’d say, “Uno (brief pause), dos (brief pause), tres (brief pause).”
10. Someone joked, “Imagine if Canadians said, ‘One Mississauga, two Mississauga . . .'” Or, “Saskatche-one, saskatche-two . . .”
11. Someone said, “I grew up in Mississippi, and as a child I just assumed other people used whatever state they lived in.” (But “One Maine” would be so much faster than “One North Carolina . . .”)
12. Someone from South Africa said, “It was ‘One Mississippi,’ but none of us knew what that was.” Another added, “I used to wonder who ‘Mrs. Zippy’ was.”
