timespan() shortening

[eluser]rich.a.coy[/eluser]
Is there a way to shorten the timespan() function to show just the first segment?

For example: "6 hours", or "23 minutes"? Whichever is the biggest time value available.

No one wants to see that my database record is "1 Week, 4 Days, 21 Hours, 52 Minutes" old.

I saw an old thread on this issue but did not see a solution.

Thanks.