Chapter 2 Word Choice
109
Latin abbreviations
P.S., P.P.S., A.M., P.M., B.C., A.D., C.E., B.C.E
Put on your Latin learning hat.
Here's part two of what those abbreviations you use stand for.
P.S. (Latin, postscriptum): "postscript" is a note or series of notes
added to a complete letter, article, or book.
A second postscript in a letter is abbrevia ted P.P.S.
A.M. stands for "ante meridiem," NOT "meridian" (before noon).
P.M. is for "post meridiem" (after noon).
B.C. ("before Christ") follows the year.
v
Julius Caesar died in 44 B.C.
A.D. (Anno Domini: "in the year of our Lord"... NOT "after death")
comes before the year, unless it's used with a time frame expressed
in words, as Bryan Garner so eloquently put it in his A Dictionary of
Modern American Usage.
v
Hadrian's wall was completed in A.D. 126.
v
The wall was completed in the second century A.D.
But former TV meteorologist Lou McNally, from Portland, Maine,
enlightens us on what may render A.D. and B.C. obsolete one of
these days:
"We in the fields of climate research are currently switching our
allegiance to a new format. `C.E.' now refers to `Common Era,'
thus removing any reference to the `Domini' in A.D. It's a
simple change, but it covers the global requirements for
communications without a reference to any particula r religion.
Thus, A.D. 400 becomes 400 C.E., and 400 B.C. becomes 400
B.C.E. (before Common Era)."
