M is for meridian (UNCLASSIFIED)

[James Smith]

Hence, midnight sometimes given as "0 dark hundred" :)

James D. SMITH               |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com   |whether we act quickly and
                                    decisively
                             |or slowly and cautiously.


--- On Fri, 3/19/10, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:

> From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject: Re: M is for meridian (UNCLASSIFIED)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date: Friday, March 19, 2010, 3:44 PM
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> This is one area where Military time is better (read "less
> ambiguous").
> 12:00:00 is noon.  Midnight can be either 0:00:00 or
> 24:00:00, but
> either way, you know it's gonna be dark.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]
> On
> > Behalf Of Joel S. Berson
> > Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 2:18 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: M is for meridian
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American
> Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S.
> Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: M is for meridian
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > At 3/19/2010 02:52 PM, Ann Burlingham wrote:
> > >On Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 11:30 PM, Mark Mandel
> <thnidu at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender:
>    American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Mark
> Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      Re: M is for
> meridian
> > > >
> > >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ----------
> > > >
> > > > To put it another way, all the other X:00
> times have the same
> > > "_M" suffix as
> > > > X:01, X:02...X:59. 5:01 PM comes right after
> 5:00 PM, not 5:00 AM
> > or 5:00 W
> > > > or anything else. Calling noon 12 PM, and
> midnight 12 AM, simply
> > extends
> > > > this simple consistency to the top of the
> dial. Insisting in 21st-
> > century
> > > > English that "PM" can only be applied to
> times after mid-day --
> > post
> > > > meridiem (< (*?)medi-diem), and "AM" to
> times before mid-day, ante
> > meridiem
> > > > -- amounts to etymological pedantry.
> > >
> > >I find it ambiguous - 12 comes after 11, so why
> isn't 12PM midnight?
> >
> > I don't find it ambiguous -- just confusing and
> illogical.  They
> > should have called the first hour 0 (zero).
> After all, by Peano's
> > axioms zero is the first natural number.  Think
> how clear everything
> > would have become.  0:00 AM is just after 11:59
> PM and just before
> > 00:01 AM.  "They" didn't anticipate railroad and
> airplane timetables.
> >
> > And the same goes for years -- we would have known
> exactly when the
> > century began.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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