Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

There's no such thing as 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.

How do you say midnight?

A friend of mine from the East got a parking ticket back there for parking in a zone marked "No Parking 12 p.m. to 1 p.m." Thinking this meant noon to 1 p.m., she parked there at 10 a.m. and got a ticket. Apparently, the sign meant midnight when it said 12 p.m. So, what's the deal between 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.? Is it even correct English to use these?

Rachel Slur

Sponsored
Sponsored
12:00 a.m., p.m., or neither?

Has the IRS gone into the sign-writing business? It's not only confusing, it's meaningless. You'd think the people who insist that we live by all these rules would at least give us a fighting chance to understand them.

If it's 12:00 and the sun's out, it's noon; if the moon's out, it's midnight. It's not correct to designate 12:00 as either a.m. or p.m. Noon and midnight are dividing points between the hours ante meridian (before noon) and post meridian (after noon). It's that simple. Too simple for an Eastern bureaucrat, of course. Since the U.S. seems unwilling to adopt the eminently clear 24 hours clock for everyday time-telling, it seems even more important to be accurate about what we call 12:00. San Diego's official signmakers have the good sense to use the correct noon and midnight designations.

But we do have our own local parking-sign peculiarities. How about "No parking, except Saturdays, Sundays, and certain holidays"? Or "No parking, here to corner" and "No parking, corner to here"? To save you some guessing and probably a ticket, the official "certain holidays" are New Year's, Memorial, Veterans', and Columbus days; Washington's birthday; the 4th of July; Thanksgiving; and Christmas. And when you get into that "here to corner" bind, always read the signs in the direction of traffic flow on that side of the street. "Here to corner" means from the location of the sign to the next corner you reach going in the direction of the flow of traffic. If you're standing at the sign facing the same direction as the traffic flow, "corner to here" means from the first corner behind you to the location of the sign. Maybe the easiest rule of thumb, though, is to assume that any space at a curb not already occupied is probably an illegal parking space. Seems to work that way for me.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat
Next Article

Could Supplemental Security Income house the homeless?

A board and care resident proposes a possible solution

A friend of mine from the East got a parking ticket back there for parking in a zone marked "No Parking 12 p.m. to 1 p.m." Thinking this meant noon to 1 p.m., she parked there at 10 a.m. and got a ticket. Apparently, the sign meant midnight when it said 12 p.m. So, what's the deal between 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.? Is it even correct English to use these?

Rachel Slur

Sponsored
Sponsored
12:00 a.m., p.m., or neither?

Has the IRS gone into the sign-writing business? It's not only confusing, it's meaningless. You'd think the people who insist that we live by all these rules would at least give us a fighting chance to understand them.

If it's 12:00 and the sun's out, it's noon; if the moon's out, it's midnight. It's not correct to designate 12:00 as either a.m. or p.m. Noon and midnight are dividing points between the hours ante meridian (before noon) and post meridian (after noon). It's that simple. Too simple for an Eastern bureaucrat, of course. Since the U.S. seems unwilling to adopt the eminently clear 24 hours clock for everyday time-telling, it seems even more important to be accurate about what we call 12:00. San Diego's official signmakers have the good sense to use the correct noon and midnight designations.

But we do have our own local parking-sign peculiarities. How about "No parking, except Saturdays, Sundays, and certain holidays"? Or "No parking, here to corner" and "No parking, corner to here"? To save you some guessing and probably a ticket, the official "certain holidays" are New Year's, Memorial, Veterans', and Columbus days; Washington's birthday; the 4th of July; Thanksgiving; and Christmas. And when you get into that "here to corner" bind, always read the signs in the direction of traffic flow on that side of the street. "Here to corner" means from the location of the sign to the next corner you reach going in the direction of the flow of traffic. If you're standing at the sign facing the same direction as the traffic flow, "corner to here" means from the first corner behind you to the location of the sign. Maybe the easiest rule of thumb, though, is to assume that any space at a curb not already occupied is probably an illegal parking space. Seems to work that way for me.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Next Article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader