Since your problem resolves around the fact that the WP theme developers used a function that doesn’t have any hooks so we could easily alter the output, you’re going to have to copy & paste the following code in your functions.php file
function human_time_diff( $from, $to = '' ) {
if ( empty( $to ) ) {
$to = time();
}
$diff = (int) abs( $to - $from );
if ( $diff < HOUR_IN_SECONDS ) {
$mins = round( $diff / MINUTE_IN_SECONDS );
if ( $mins <= 1 )
$mins = 1;
/* translators: min=minute */
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s min', '%s mins', $mins ), $mins );
} elseif ( $diff < DAY_IN_SECONDS && $diff >= HOUR_IN_SECONDS ) {
$hours = round( $diff / HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
if ( $hours <= 1 )
$hours = 1;
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s hour', '%s hours', $hours ), $hours );
} elseif ( $diff < WEEK_IN_SECONDS && $diff >= DAY_IN_SECONDS ) {
$days = round( $diff / DAY_IN_SECONDS );
if ( $days <= 1 )
$days = 1;
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s day', '%s days', $days ), $days );
} elseif ( $diff < 30 * DAY_IN_SECONDS && $diff >= WEEK_IN_SECONDS ) {
$weeks = round( $diff / WEEK_IN_SECONDS );
if ( $weeks <= 1 )
$weeks = 1;
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s week', '%s weeks', $weeks ), $weeks );
} elseif ( $diff < YEAR_IN_SECONDS && $diff >= 30 * DAY_IN_SECONDS ) {
$months = round( $diff / ( 30 * DAY_IN_SECONDS ) );
if ( $months <= 1 )
$months = 1;
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s month', '%s months', $months ), $months );
} elseif ( $diff >= YEAR_IN_SECONDS ) {
$years = round( $diff / YEAR_IN_SECONDS );
if ( $years <= 1 )
$years = 1;
$since = sprintf( _n( '%s year', '%s years', $years ), $years );
}
/**
* Filter the human readable difference between two timestamps.
*
* @since 4.0.0
*
* @param string $since The difference in human readable text.
* @param int $diff The difference in seconds.
* @param int $from Unix timestamp from which the difference begins.
* @param int $to Unix timestamp to end the time difference.
*/
return apply_filters( 'human_time_diff', $since, $diff, $from, $to );
}
‘%s min’, ‘%s mins’
‘%s hour’, ‘%s hours’
‘%s day’, ‘%s days’
‘%s week’, ‘%s weeks’
‘%s month’, ‘%s months’
These are the formats you need to change with your own wording; be sure to only change the words (minute, hour, day, week, month) and not the %s
Hope this helps.