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June 4, 2004

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q.  Your brainy girlfriend challenges:  "Lover, I'll consider your marriage proposal if you pitch it to me at exactly 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. New Year's Day, you choose which one.  But I'll accept only if you pick correctly from these two times." Is this going to be your lucky year?

    A.  Better smart than lucky because proposing at 12 a.m. is not possible since there is no such thing as 12 a.m., as explained by the Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  "A.m." and "p.m." are abbreviations for "ante meridiem" and "post meridiem," meaning "before noon" and "after noon." Noon is neither before noon nor after noon, it is just noon; likewise midnight is just midnight.  So neither the "12 a.m." nor the "12 p.m." designation is technically correct.


     
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