[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
...
But if someone enters 12:00 PM, obviously that is 12 after noon, not
12 before noon - but is midnight before or after noon? Nobody has a
clock that accepts 12:00 m or 12:00 mm.
...
"Ante Meridiem" (AM) means "before noon"; "Post Meridiem" (PM) means
"after noon". Noon is definitely neither before or after noon, so it
shouldn't be either AM or PM. By the definition of AM and PM, it would
make equal sense to make midnight either AM or PM. Therein lies the
problem with 12-hour time. Noon and midnight interpretations are not
obvious - especially since most folks give no thought to the meaning of
AM & PM.
Thinking in terms of discontinuities: if one ignores the definitions and
insists on assigning noon and midnight some AM and PM designation,
making noon be PM introduces two discontinuities in the notation around
noon (1159 AM -> 1200 PM -> 0001 PM) and around midnight (11:59PM ->
12:00 AM -> 00:01 AM) while making noon "AM" makes the discontinuity in
suffix and numeric value both occur at one point (12:00 AM -> 00:01 PM
and 12:00 PM -> 00:01 AM) and would obviously be a cleaner choice, even
though technically still incorrect.
--
Joel C. Ewing, Fort Smith, AR [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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