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A comment on The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed how we use language. Parent comment

Re:The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed h... by cratermoon on Sunday November 05, 2023 @11:30AM (#38152597)
>> Other than in English-speaking countries and some Spanish-speaking countries, the terms a.m. and p.m. are seldom used and often unknown.

I did not know that. The terms are from the Latin ante meridiem and post meridiem (meridiem, midday, ante before, post after) so it seemed logical to me that any Romance language would have them. But then, English is not a Romance language (but borrowed heavily from them) so, chalk another one up to English being an absolute mess.

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Re:The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed h... by Tams80 on Sunday November 05, 2023 @01:13PM (#38153810)
You meant to say 'delightful smorgasbord' of a language.

Don't worry; I'll forgive your insolence this time.

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Re:The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed h... by cratermoon on Thursday November 09, 2023 @12:10PM (#38207718)
I'm originally from Texas. I reserve the right to call English a mess. Y'all should see how Texans pronounce Spanish words.
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Re:The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed h... by cubefox on Sunday November 05, 2023 @01:58PM (#38154371)
Other languages write e.g. 6:00 instead of 6:00 am, and 18:00 instead of 6:00 pm. When you talk about analog clocks you can presumably say something like "it shows six o'clock in the afternoon". (What's the opposite of afternoon by the way? Morning? But isn't that the opposite of evening? Or just ante meridiem? But that's Latin.)
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Re:The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed h... by SushiHippie on Sunday November 05, 2023 @05:51PM (#38156525)
In german there is "Vormittag" and "Nachmittag". Vormittag is the time between the morning and noon. Nachmittag is the time between noon and the evening.

Mittag = noon Vor = before -> "beforenoon" (literal translation of Vormittag) Nach = after -> "afternoon" (literal translation of Nachmittag)

But "vormittag" just translates to "morning" (with deepL and google translate).

Though there seems to exist "forenoon".

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