Is midnight PM or AM?

Gamish

Is midnight PM or AM? Does midnight end the previous day, or begin the next day? I have read that midnight is PM or AM, I have read that midnight is neither PM nor AM, it is a moment of no time. I have read that computers calculate midnight as 12:00 AM, and noon as 12:00 PM. I am very confused. The reason why I ask this is to try to disprove a sign at a local video store, hehe. Please answer this is you know the answer.

Thanks in advanced.

Integral

My logic has always been that the 12 represents a the start of a new hour, so it needs to be different from 11:59. Therefore 12:00AM must follow 11:59PM and 12:00PM must follow 11:59AM. Likewise it could be said that there is no doubt about 12:01, so simplicity says that we should make 12:00 am if 12:01 is am.

By this logic 12AM is midight and 12PM is noon.

Tom McCurdy

Midnight= 12:00 AM

Tom McCurdy

Noon = 12:00 PM

tribdog

MidNoon = 12:00 HM

Monique

midnight is 00:00 hours, thus AM :rollseyes:


but technically 00:00 on the 25th December is equivalent to 24:00 on the 24th December..

Quantum_Prodegy

wats the sign at the video store say?

Les Sleeth

It turns out your confusion is justified because it is technically improper to refer to the 12 o'clock hour as AM or PM.

AM stands for Ante Meridian, which is Latin for: before midday

PM stands for Post Meridian, which is Latin for: after midday

At 12 o'clock it is neither before midday nor after midday (midday stands for middle point, not really "day"). The proper terms for the two 12 o'clock hours are midnight and noon; then a second past either it is 12:00:01 AM or 12:00:01 PM, respectively.

Evo

I'll be darned, you're right. http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/general/misc.htm

KingNothing

Noon and midnight aren't technically either one.

Ivan Seeking

Alright then, what is the proper greeting at midnight or noon? Should I avoid greetings at these times..I mean, "good midnight" just doesn't sound right, and "good nooner" could get a person into trouble.

Gokul43201

Better than 'Good AM' and 'Good PM'

KingNothing

Well, the boundaries for day and night don't lie on midnight and noon. In fact, midnight and noon are the midpoints for day and night, so it should be extremely easy to decide a greeting at these times.

Alternately, you could scribble a word on a napkin without looking and see if it is day or night.

Ivan Seeking

Somehow I don't think you're all following the idea here...

Morning comes before noon, and afternoon come AFTER NOON; thus the paradox.

Even worse, it was a joke.

Gokul43201

I'm feeling sick, so ignore my mumbling.

Math Is Hard

Words are unneccesary. Just extend a handful of frozen broccoli to the greet-ee and that should be sufficient.

Ivan Seeking

Don't feel bad, Hurkyl just threw me for a good one a few days ago.

I hate it when that happens!