It’s ante meridian and post meridian, I believe. Not “meridiam”. Perhaps just a double typo though, I suppose.
Except that 12:00 is neither in the morning or the afternoon. It is just… noon (or 12 noon or 1200).
Nope, it’s meridiem. Accusative case.
It’s a very common usage in Germany, and it throws me off something fierce. I’ll make an appointment over the phone, hang up, and then wonder if the receptionist said 16:00, which I automatically translated to 4 pm, or if she said 6 o’clock. I’ve learned to write it down in my calendar as I’m repeating it in my phone call, and then I don’t arrive 2 hours too early or too late.
Thank you. I did not know that. Searching online I see that it is referred to as “meridian” in many places, but I guess they, like me, just always had it wrong. My Latin was never any good anyway! :smack:
12am has meant first thing in the morning in question for centuries. Get used to it. It’s no harder than 12:01. If you want a mnemonic, here’s a little poem you can memorize:
Twelve A M is like
Twelve oh one
But one minute earlier
The end
Using a.m. or p.m. with 12:00 has generated confusion for centuries. It’s why we have words for “noon” and “midnight.” They eliminate the ambiguity.
Seeing as the thread was more about the ambiguity over whether midnight starts or ends the day, neither of you really has a point. But 12AM vs. 12PM has been taught in school for so long, that even the most uneducated people in the Ozark Mountains here in Arkansas knows the difference. While I’d love to say that was because the stereotype about us being stupid was horribly wrong, I can’t; it’s just slightly exaggerated.
I’ve seen it used in aviation when something is due to end at midnight.