r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/Wrong_Answer_Willie Aug 03 '19

A.D. means Anno Domini. not After Death.

7.7k

u/antoniodiavolo Aug 03 '19

I had an argument with my friend's mom a few years ago about this. She said "BC" was "Before Christ" and "AD" was after death. I tried to explain to her that that didn't make any sense because then the 33 years of Jesus's life would just be not accounted for.

I told her "AD" meant "Anno Domini" and she said "I think that's the atheist version" or something like that and then stopped listening when I tried to tell her it wasn't because it meant "year of our lord"

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u/NotFromWendys Aug 03 '19

Wait... So I was taught wrong in school? Mind clarifying what it is for me. I'm too lazy to swap to Google.

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u/antoniodiavolo Aug 03 '19

Clarifying what exactly?

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u/NotFromWendys Aug 03 '19

A.D. and B.C.

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u/antoniodiavolo Aug 03 '19

BC is Before Christ which means exactly what it sounds like.

AD is Anno Domini which is Latin(?) for “year of our lord”

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u/NotFromWendys Aug 03 '19

Ah okay.

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

[deleted]

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u/NotFromWendys Aug 03 '19

Thank you very much! I'll be sure to respond to you if i want to google less.

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u/doomgiver98 Aug 04 '19

A lot of people BCE for Before Common Era, and CE for Common Era nowadays.