tick -tock tick-tock, who’s messing with my clock?
Nothing gets my goat more than ignorance, especially when it supposedly intelligent people displaying it; and what gets my goat most is the time.
This morning I went online to make an appointment and once again I was confronted by the most aggravating example of ignorance, well to me it is; (next to that damnable train station instead of RAILWAY STATION ahhhhhhhhhhhh! which I wont go into now; come to think of it, I did a post on that very subject many moons ago; have to see if I can find it!) and that’s 12 pm.
Do they mean 12 noon? Perhaps not, after all they might mean 12 (hours) post meridian; then again perhaps they mean 12 minutes post meridian. Surely they don’t mean NOON, 12 midday, 12 hours post meridian surely must be 12 midnight.
Then again they might subscribe to the theory that time flies, and that the time goes from 11:59:59. am (1 second to noon), 12 hours and 1 second to 12 pm midnight. does the clock then jump from 11:59:59pm (1 second to midnight) to 12 noon?
Why am I confused.? Because the people who do this are ignorant, blissfully so!
Would you believe that not long ago when I was in Gods rooms, I needed to make an appointment, his receptionist suggested a date and time of 12 pm; I could have screamed, I almost yelled at her “theres no such time” however, I kept ‘my cool and asked her if she meant midday, or midnight, and she looked at me like a stunned mullet. I explained to her that there is no time as such; it was either noon or midnight.
Naturally I looked completely innocent while she considered this; having thus confused her I suggested perhaps an 11:30 am appointment would be nice. This was granted with much relief on both sides and I got out of the place quick smart.
Who do we blame for this ignorance, it’s surely not the schools, is it? This display of ignorance stretches across all sections of the community, and it’s getting worse!
LordBeariOfBow 
Brian, I do believe it is the modern way.
As I understand it, a 10 hour day clock should be installed soon. It was during the French Revolution. The Brits say, that that explains everything. Of course it did not last. The French, during the Reign of Terror, also introduced 10 months to the year.
Ah, governments, and their minions, trying to keep busy.
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It is still completely and utterly wrong and it annoys me no end, there is no excuse except laziness, Hows that for getting up on my soapbox? XD And we all know that the Froggies have a screw or two loose, that’s why we were always at war with them 😈
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In the US it’s generally understood that 12 pm is noon and 12 am is midnight, but if it isn’t specified, I tend to double check, just in case. I still prefer dealing with that to wrestling with a 24-hour clock.
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Actually PT 12 am and 12 pm are both the same time 12 midnight. 12 ante meridian is 12 hours before noon and 12 post meridian is 12 hours after noon, to confuse you more if I were to say right now “today at 12 am I am saying 12 midnight 26th/27th April and should I say 12 pm I’d be referring to 12 midnight 27th/28th April” 😈
I think 12 noon and 12 midnight should be left as they are, don’t you? XD
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I always include “noon” or “midnight” just to make sure there’s no confusion.
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Well in that case putting either am or pm is superfluous I would suggest
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It’s late. I wasn’t thinking. You’re right.
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Well that makes a change XD 😈
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Well, ignorance is easily fixed by reading . . . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-hour_clock
If one deals in a world where most people use a 12-hour clock, one best learn the convention. Most people make the effort, and once learned, it’s pretty easy to keep straight.
Of course, one can be willfully obstinate. Some revel in it, from 12am to 12pm and back again to 12am. It’s a bit like adding a superfluous “u” in common words. It’s silly, but people do it, so the rest of the world makes allowances for it.
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I’m quite happy with the 12 hour clock and understand it pretty well, I think, but what you say does not alter for one minute what I have said. There is no such time as 12 am or pm it’s either 12 noon or 12 midnight. The ‘m’ stands for meridian and time is either before or after and as meridian = 12 I rest my case,
Then of course you might well be trying to bug me! 👿
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I have been known to push a few buttons here and there. Mostly, there.
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