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Subject: Re: AM/PM, [was] Sexagesimal (was Newbie - Variation..)
From: Yves Arrouye (yves@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Feb 25 2002 - 13:16:29 EST
> Digital watches can be set to use 24 hour time, but often there are not
> enough LED or LCD segments to show 12:00 NOON on a display,
> so AM/PM are often dedicated smaller special characters. Then a choice
> has to be made, and it appears that Casio watches, as an
> example, show 12:00:00 as PM.
AFAIK everybody maps 12 noon to 12pm and 12 midnight to 12am. At least it's
consistent...
> <It's nice to see that the NIST wants> That's not what the NIST alone
> wants. Look at every "Manual of Style" used by any writer or
> editor. The habit of 12AM/12PM is a popular mistake best attributed to
> illiteracy, something that we all suffer from to some degree.
And I am sure that many written pieces use 12am/12pm despite these
guidelines (just like French magazines have adopted American punctuation
rules to look "cooler or for some other silly reason)". Oh well. If anybody
has definitive info on the advent of this, I am interested.
YA
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