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Why is midnight "12:00 AM" and noon "12:00 PM"?

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mac56 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:20 PM
Original message
Why is midnight "12:00 AM" and noon "12:00 PM"?
This has never made sense to me. As I understand it, AM and PM start immediately after midnight and noon respectively. This means that "12:00 AM" and "12:00 PM" would be contradictions in terms! Why not just say "midnight" and "noon"?

Am I missing something?
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VelmaD Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
1. I would imagine it's to be consistent...
with other times in teh same hour. 12:00am should come right before 12:01am - kinda makes sense.
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afraid_of_the_dark Donating Member (724 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
2. I think it's a vast conspiracy...
to mess up kids learning how to tell time. :tinfoilhat:
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Loonman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:22 PM
Response to Original message
3. Did you take Latin in school?
The answer is right there.
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Commie Pinko Dirtbag Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:24 PM
Response to Original message
4. AM and PM are arbitrarily defined as
AM: 0 ≤ x < 12
PM 12 ≤ x < 24

Also, the exact instant of midnight is defined as belonging to the day after, not the day before.
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arwalden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:24 PM
Response to Original message
5. 00:00 and 24:00 Solve The Problem Too
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mac56 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:28 PM
Response to Original message
6. I figured someone here would know the rationale behind it.
I'm just sayin' - - Idoan geddit.
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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-02-04 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
7. It's than Meridian thing..ante= before... post= after
Edited on Mon Feb-02-04 12:30 PM by SoCalDem
and maybe voodoo..:)
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