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Hi
all it is now Monday afternoon, I had a productive morning, I was
sorting through some mail and went into Tim's office to file
something away and the state of the room annoyed me so much that I
ended up spending a good hour cleaning the room up, which lead me to
cleaning the area next to the stove in the kitchen.
Tim
use to complain about the state of my computer desk but he has a
whole room and it is usually a right mess far more so then my
computer desk.
I
was thinking yesterday about AM and PM when I was asked by one of my
girls way back when what AM and PM stood for I said AM was after
midnight and PM was past midday, well yesterday I thought what does
AM and PM really stand for.
So
I did what all people with internet do when they have such thoughts I
Goggled it and it turns out that AM
stands for “ante meridiem”, which means “before noon” in
Latin, while PM stands for “post meridiem”, which means “after
noon” in Latin.
So
now I have learnt something new, did you know what AM and PM stood
for, my common sense told me it wouldn't have stood for after
midnight and past midday but I still think it is an easy way to
explain AM and PM to young ones and those who may not be able to get
their head around the Latin meaning.
No
I know we all should know that there is a 12 hour clock and a 24 hour
clock, the use of a 12 hour clock goes back to ancient Egyptians and
Mesopotamians who recorded and kept time by using sundials during the
day and water clocks at night.
Egyptians
are thought to be responsible for dividing the day in to 24 equal
parts, because they counted their joints in their fingers instead of
counting using their fingers as is now commonplace.
So
is it 12PM or is it noon?
When
you think about it technically speaking 12PM does not make sense,
since it is not after noon, the same can be said for 12AM as that is
not before noon. So it is recommended that one refer to these hours
as midnight and noon. Although most digital clocks tend to show 12AM
and 12PM to specify midnight and midday.
What a very cool and interesting post. I did not know what the letters meant so thanks for the lesson. Your answer to your little one was perfect in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barb it was interesting but I still think my answer is the easiest to understand
DeleteI didn't know the technical reason for AM and PM, either. Interesting! :)
ReplyDeleteI thought so
DeleteDearest Jo-Anne,
ReplyDeleteGood for you for bringing this up here. Both of us have been at the Amsterdam airport often and one time there was an Australian couple, trying to check in for the 8:00 PM flight but were told it was an AM flight and they missed it. Most international travel service do print the 24 hour time which for sure would have prevented this terrible fate for the young couple...
Hugs to you,
Mariette
I know some people who do not understand 24 hours time, yeah I know strange
DeleteWell I certainly learned a few new things here. I often wondered about the weird 12pm and 12am thing too, it never made a lot of sense to me and when I was younger I often found it really confusing.
ReplyDeleteI oddly enough never gave it much thought till I was older
ReplyDeleteInteresting facts about time. All I know is that it goes too darn fast except at the dentist.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah time in the dentist chair just seems to drag on
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