diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/adapter/StatusViewHolder.java b/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/adapter/StatusViewHolder.java
index c532dcbd0..af5833b12 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/adapter/StatusViewHolder.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/adapter/StatusViewHolder.java
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ public class StatusViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
         if (createdAt != null) {
             long then = createdAt.getTime();
             long now = new Date().getTime();
-            readout = DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(then, now);
+            readout = DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(sinceCreated.getContext(), then, now);
             readoutAloud = android.text.format.DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(then, now,
                     android.text.format.DateUtils.SECOND_IN_MILLIS,
                     android.text.format.DateUtils.FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE);
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/util/DateUtils.java b/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/util/DateUtils.java
index 7142b5fd2..beb58ef9b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/util/DateUtils.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/keylesspalace/tusky/util/DateUtils.java
@@ -15,38 +15,60 @@
 
 package com.keylesspalace.tusky.util;
 
-import java.text.NumberFormat;
+import android.content.Context;
+
+import com.keylesspalace.tusky.R;
 
 public class DateUtils {
     /* This is a rough duplicate of android.text.format.DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString,
      * but even with the FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE flag it wasn't abbreviating enough. */
-    public static String getRelativeTimeSpanString(long then, long now) {
+    public static String getRelativeTimeSpanString(Context context, long then, long now) {
         final long MINUTE = 60;
         final long HOUR = 60 * MINUTE;
         final long DAY = 24 * HOUR;
         final long YEAR = 365 * DAY;
         long span = (now - then) / 1000;
-        String prefix = "";
+        boolean future = false;
         if (span < 0) {
-            prefix = "in ";
+            future = true;
             span = -span;
         }
-        String unit;
+        String format;
         if (span < MINUTE) {
-            unit = "s";
+            if (future) {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_in_seconds);
+            } else {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_seconds_ago);
+            }
         } else if (span < HOUR) {
             span /= MINUTE;
-            unit = "m";
+            if (future) {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_in_minutes);
+            } else {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_minutes_ago);
+            }
         } else if (span < DAY) {
             span /= HOUR;
-            unit = "h";
+            if (future) {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_in_hours);
+            } else {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_hours_ago);
+            }
         } else if (span < YEAR) {
             span /= DAY;
-            unit = "d";
+            if (future) {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_in_days);
+            } else {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_days_ago);
+            }
         } else {
             span /= YEAR;
-            unit = "y";
+            if (future) {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_in_years);
+            } else {
+                format = context.getString(R.string.abbreviated_years_ago);
+            }
         }
-        return prefix + NumberFormat.getIntegerInstance().format(span) + unit;
+        return String.format(format, span);
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index d1942c695..68bf67826 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -197,6 +197,18 @@
 
     <string name="combine_s1_s2">%1$s %2$s</string>
     <string name="no_content">no content</string>
-    <string name="action_save_one_toot">Toot saved !</string>
+    <string name="action_save_one_toot">Toot saved!</string>
+
+    <!--These are for timestamps on statuses. For example: "16s" or "2d"-->
+    <string name="abbreviated_in_years">in %dy</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_in_days">in %dd</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_in_hours">in %dh</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_in_minutes">in %dm</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_in_seconds">in %ds</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_years_ago">%dy</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_days_ago">%dd</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_hours_ago">%dh</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_minutes_ago">%dm</string>
+    <string name="abbreviated_seconds_ago">%ds</string>
 
 </resources>