Even English-speaking internet users were perplexed. Recently the topic blew up on a social media platform.
The debate kicked off when a regular user posted: “I might be called stupid for this, but what do AM and PM actually mean?”
The post was viewed more than 21 million times and drew numerous replies, according to the Daily Mail.
One user’s guess was utter nonsense: “After midnight and before midnight.” Another wrote, “In my head, it’s like: morning and after morning.” And yet another admitted, “I’ve never thought about it and only pondered it today.”
Do you know what AM and PM mean?
The 24-hour day is split into two 12-hour periods: AM and PM. AM stands for the Latin ante meridiem, meaning the 12 hours from midnight to noon.
PM stands for post meridiem, meaning the 12 hours from noon to midnight.
People often complain about confusion over the 12th and 24th hours. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich explained that there are specific terms for those times: “noon” refers to midday, or 12:00, and “midnight” refers to 24:00.
Experts suggested avoiding “12 AM” and “12 PM” and using the words “noon” and “midnight” instead to avoid confusion. Simple, right?
