What do AM and PM on Watches mean?

Many of the English words and expressions we use every day are of Latin origin, and this holds true for some of the more confusing British acronyms and abbreviation examples. “Lb”, is an acronym that comes from the Latin phrase “Libra pondo”. “No” as an abbreviation of the word O-less determines that “number” is derived from the Latin word “numero”. And, if you have ever wondered, “What do AM and PM stand for?” look no further: These common abbreviations also come from Latin.

What do AM and PM stand for?

In the United States and some other English speaking countries these acronyms are used all the time. Using them properly determines our alarm clock setting. However, many people cannot accurately answer the question “What do AM and PM stand for?”

Well, if you’re one of those people, fret no more. “AM” stands for “ante meridiem”. The Latin phrase “ante meridiem” means “before noon” or “before midday”. That’s why, in the 12-hour system, all times from midnight onwards use the word. PM stands for “post meridiem”, which means “after noon” or “after midday” and as such applies to the time from noon onwards. English-speaking countries have been using the abbreviations “AM” and “PM” since the 17th century. The Latin word “post” has also infiltrated itself into our language, synonymous with “after”.

How to break sentences AM and PM

Do you need to capitalize “AM” and “PM”? Should AM and PM be written as they are abbreviations? Well, when it comes to AM and PM formats, the rule isn’t as strict as you might think. Although both Chicago and AP styles recommend writing them in lowercase with a period in between (“am” and “pm”), as long as you are consistent with how you write them. You can write them in uppercase, lowercase, or even small caps if you want. And when you’re using periods and abbreviations to end a sentence, you don’t need to add a period — as in “I RSVP’d to that party, please pick me up at 12 pm.”

AM and PM military time

If you’re using military time or the 24-hour system, you don’t need AM and PM. Instead of going back to 1 after 12:59 (PM), you go back to 13:00. And the hour right after midnight is different, so there’s no double 12.

• From midnight (12:00am) until 12:59am, exchange 12 for zero.
• If you’re in the military and trying to reverse the 12-hour system, any time that starts with zero is 12AM.
• To determine how to convert the time after 12:59 p.m. to military time, add 12 to the hours.
• If you’re in the military, subtract 12.

So 3:45 pm will become 15:45. So what is “21:39”? Subtract 12 from now to 9:39 pm.

So is midnight 0:00 or 24:00? This can be a good way to distinguish between the previous midnight and the upcoming midnight, or the beginning of a certain day and the end of that day.

What about midday and midnight?

One of the most confusing things about the AM-PM system, once you have answered the question “What do AM and PM mean,” is how the system calculates midnight and midday. So, in the 12 hour system, what is 12 o’clock?

English speaking countries parse using “12:00 AM” to indicate midnight, since midnight starts a new day, so it can be considered “before noon” of the same day. . Not to mention it would probably be even more confusing if the time was between 12:00pm and 12:01am. So noon then becomes 12 midnight by default.

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