# Before Christ and Anno Domini **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469 "2000-11-23T19:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/1 "2000-11-23T19:20:32Z")
We all know that (no longer as used) systen, BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini). Here’s the question: Why is one in English and the other in Latin? Of course, the whole problem is solved with BCE and CE, but that’s besides the point. ---
**Author:** ![melchizedek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@melchizedek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melchizedek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/2 "2000-11-23T19:55:47Z")
Interesting point. Well, at a guess, I would suggest if you had BC in latin, it would be something like Ante Domini… or AD. A bit confusing. We could have both in English, since Latin is a pretty dead language, so it would be Y.O.O.L. Pretty cool huh? ---
**Author:** ![tshirts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@tshirts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshirts)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/3 "2000-11-23T20:47:35Z")
I guess we could be asking what they use in other countries. Since anno Domini is Latin, it may have a Latin counterpart for BC in other languages. Among other differences is that in formal usage AD comes before the date and BC after. As an aside, while trying to research this I came across an interesting bit of Latin: **ad Calendas Graecas** means “at the Greek Calends” -i.e., never, as the Greeks had no Calends. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/4 "2000-11-23T21:26:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LaurAnge \* > \*\*Here’s the question: Why is one in English and the other in Latin? \*\* While not correct, I often hear people refer to AD as “after death,” that is, “Before Christ” and then “After [his] Death.” Although logically that would leave a 33 year gap in our calendar… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![melchizedek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@melchizedek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melchizedek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/5 "2000-11-23T21:33:40Z")
Never heard it quoted as such, but I see your point. There would be those who then argue the point saying he is still alive… or even that he never died… damned gnostics! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/6 "2000-11-23T21:42:56Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940930.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940930.html) ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/7 "2000-11-23T21:47:35Z")
Oh no… I feel so horribly stupid… I have read all of Cecil’s columns, I must just have forgotten, so I didn’t check the archives… _goes to hide in her shame_ ---
**Author:** ![isopropyl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@isopropyl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isopropyl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/8 "2000-11-23T22:01:53Z")
I know that in German the letters a.D. only mean “Retired” (außer Dienst) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/9 "2000-11-24T00:29:12Z")
> [@](#): > > As an aside, while trying to research this I came across an interesting bit of Latin: > ad Calendas Graecas means “at the Greek Calends” -i.e., never, as the Greeks had no Calends. **«Till, in place of the “Kalends of Greece,” men said, “When Crook and his darlings come back with the head.”»** ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/10 "2000-11-24T12:17:17Z")
One other relevant factor which hasn’t been mentioned is that the full Anno Domini formula was usually used only in formal documents which were themselves written in Latin. Only scribes and lawyers bothered to specify precisely which dating system was being used. Such documents would almost never need to refer to a date before the birth of Christ. Until relatively modern times, earlier dates would have been refered to using other calendars. The Before Christ formula was popularised by scholars who needed a standard dating system and who, in English-speaking countries, were writing in English. This was not a decisive factor, as the examples of other languages show, but it must be part of the explanation. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/11 "2000-11-24T13:19:50Z")
Do “regular” people actually ever use the “C.E.” and “B.C.E.” in the first place? I have heard of these abbreviations, but I have never heard anyone use them. I have seen them in books occasionally, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/12 "2000-11-24T13:34:42Z")
Why would ‘regular’ people need to use them? Few people need to use dates which are B.C./B.C.E. and dates which are A.D./C.E. can be used without specifying the dating system. Their purpose is literally academic. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-christ-and-anno-domini/42469/13 "2000-11-24T14:50:01Z")
In my experience, most of the people that use CE/BCE are Jewish, and object to using a dating system that centers around Christ. Of course, the CE/BCE dating system _still_ centers around Christ, but if you don’t tell them I won’t 😉