errors in English

A.D.

A.D.” does not mean “after death,” as many people suppose. “B.C.” stands for the English

phrase “before Christ,” but “A.D.” stands confusingly for a Latin phrase: anno domini (“in

the year of the Lord”—the year Jesus was born). If the calendar actually changed with

Jesus’ death, then what would we do with the years during which he lived? Since Jesus was

probably actually born around 6 B.C. or so, the connection of the calendar with him can be

misleading.

Many Biblical scholars and historians, and archeologists prefer the less sectarian

designations “before the Common Era” (B.C.E.) and “the Common Era” (C.E.).

All of these abbreviations can also be spelled without their periods.

AM/PM

AM” stands for the Latin phrase Ante Meridiem —which means “before noon”—and “PM”

stands for Post Meridiem : “after noon.” Although digital clocks routinely label noon

“12:00 PM” you should avoid this expression not only because it is incorrect, but because

many people will imagine you are talking about midnight instead. The same goes for

“12:00 AM.” Just say or write “noon” or “midnight” when you mean those precise times.

It is now rare to see periods placed after these abbreviations: “A.M.” , but in formal writing

it is still preferable to capitalize them, though the lower-case “am” and “pm” are now so

popular they are not likely to get you into trouble.

Occasionally computer programs encourage you to write “AM” and “PM” without a space

before them, but others will misread your data if you omit the space. The nonstandard habit

of omitting the space is spreading rapidly, and should be avoided in formal writing.

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