We see in the Olympic program ... reference to events being held at 11am, followed by events at 12pm, apparently intended to mean the hour after 11am.

The letters am and pm are the initials of the words ante meridien and post meridien. Meridien is a Latin word meaning midday or noon.

So that 11 hours 59 minutes after midday is one minute before 12pm (after midday) and one minute before noon is 11.59am (before midday). So midday cannot be PM. It is noon and should be so designated.

It would be far less confusing and closer to being correct, if media were to use the term 12mn, and 12md instead of 12am and 12pm.

W.J. Bill Forrest

TAMWORTH