Meaning
What does Every 60 Seconds in Africa mean?
Every 60 seconds in Africa refers to the multitude of disturbing factoids concerning the gruesome occurrences on the continent.
The phrase is also found in the parody of these factoids, which goes as “every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes”.
via MEME
Origin
What's the origin of Every 60 Seconds in Africa?
The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, it has been around for a long while, along with the parody, which has been used humorously before its first occurrence on the internet.
One early case of “every 60 seconds in Africa” appearing online can be linked to the tweet of @raphaelbek, posted on April 25th, 2009.
Spread & Usage
How did Every 60 Seconds in Africa spread?
The joke would appear in numerous tweets in the following years, as well as image macros on sites like 9GAG.
On May 25th 2014, YouTube user Big Man Tyrone uploaded a video with the title “Jamal Says ‘Every 60 Seconds In Africa, A Minute Passes’” which achieved a lot of success, with over 20 million views and a million likes as of June 7th, 2021.
Today, the popularity of the joke leaves it a common occurrence both in everyday conversations as well as online discussions and memes from Facebook to Reddit to Instagram and Twitter.
External resources
- Know Your Meme – Every 60 Seconds in Africa a Minute Passes