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2001-07-26
Germany for one does not and has never used the
designations AM or PM. Official time is on the 24 h system. However,
in colloquial expressions, one uses the terms Morgens, Nachmittags, and
Abends. Midnight is Mitternacht and times past Mitternacht until noon
(Mittag) are referred to as such-n-such Uhr Morgens. Times from Mittag until
about 18:00 h (Abendmahl) are referred to as such-n-such Uhr
Nachmittags. From 18:00 to Mitternacht time is referred to as such-n-such
Uhr Abends.
So, the German day is in 3 parts, not 2. But,
everything official is on the 24 h clock. Thus, no confusion.
When I speak German to someone, I always speak on
the 24 h system. I never use the old method, so I'm not really familiar
with its structure in full.
John
Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrt�mlich glaubt
frei zu sein.
There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they
are free!
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, 2001-07-26 07:41
Subject: [USMA:14630] Re: Metric
Marketing
I'm still puzzled by the comment that, in the US, midnight
is
12 AM and noon is 12 PM (which I know to be true), but in
"the rest of the world" it's the
other way around.
Which countries refer to midnight as 12 PM instead of
12 AM
and noon as 12 AM instead of 12 PM?
Stephen
----- Original Message -----
Sent: July 25, 2001 22:42
Subject: [USMA:14619] Re: Metric
Marketing
In a message dated
2001-07-25 08:15:35 Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
If you want to get technical...
what does p.m. mean? post
meridian. And as meridian is noon, 12 post
meridian or after noon
would be midnight, or 24 hours.
On the other hand 12 a.m. (ante
meridian) would be 12 hours before noon, or
midnight, 0 hours. So I
guess that it boils down to whether you want the
midnight at the
beginning of the day or the midnight at the end of the day.
Even the
Chicago Manual of Style says to use 12 m. (12 meridian) or 12 noon
for
noon.
If one is forced to stick with the 12-hour clock, then 12 am is
midnight and
12 pm is noon. Reason --
12 00 am is followed
by 12 01 am;
12 00 pm is followed by 12 01 pm.
Just as 0000 is
followed by 0001, and 1200 by 1201.
In a pure sense, there can't be
a 2400 because there is no 2401.
In a few cases some people take
0000 to mean midnight at the beginning of the
day and 2400 to mean
midnight at the end of the day. But you have to have a
defined
point when one day ends and another begins, and the most logical one
is
23 59 59 to 00 00 00.
Carleton
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