[tlhIngan Hol] Expressing Anno Domini

qurgh lungqIj qurgh at wizage.net
Fri Sep 22 13:10:31 PDT 2017


On Fri, Sep 22, 2017 at 3:54 PM, SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:

> On 9/22/2017 3:15 PM, qurgh lungqIj wrote:
>
>> As someone who works directly with an American school system I know for a
>> fact that they teach children these days to use CE and BCE only. They don't
>> teach them AD and BC at all anymore.
>>
>
> They've also been teaching metric for decades. They taught it to me in the
> late '70s. A lot of good that's done.


They taught me in the 80s and that's what I prefer to use (along with most
of the rest of the world).


> As I said before, I'm not trying to get anyone to use a specific date
>> system, just to be aware that if you use religious terminology in your
>> dates that some people may not understand.
>>
>
> They'll understand perfectly well. I'm pretty sure everyone who knows what
> CE and BCE mean know that they're substitutions for AD and BC. I'm also
> pretty sure if I went up to my teenage niece and quoted a date with "CE" at
> the end, she'd say "What's CE?" but if I said "AD" she'd know what I meant,
> whether or not she knows what AD stands for or what it means. I think I
> actually HAD this conversation with her a few years ago.
>

I just spoke to a recent graduate of the school district I work with and
they knew BCE and CE, but had no idea what AD/BC was. It all depends on the
school district since the US education system is not standardized, it's
down to each state to determine was it taught. You're assume something
about the whole country based on the school district your niece goes to.



> You're looking at things in an idealized, "that's what we teach and that's
> how it should be" kind of way, but that's not how it is.
>

No, I'm pointing out that A is being taught as well, so people who think
only B is being taught should be aware of the fact that there are multiple
systems in use.



> So when mayqel asks for how to state dates as part of the "era of Christ,"
> the answer isn't "you shouldn't mention Christ because some people may not
> understand." You can do what I did and translate it literally, or you can
> do what others did and look at how Klingons have stated Terran dates. But
> no one who thinks the current year is 2017 is going to be confused by "era
> of Christ." They know. Whether that's how you SHOULD say it or not, you'll
> be understood.


My answer was "Here's how I do it" ({tera' DIS}) based on Skybox canon (I
guess you missed those emails), to which I then followed up with "Oh, and
btw, there are these other systems out there that you should be aware of
that could lead to confusion when using the name of a specific religious
figure in your dating system". Unlike you, I don't assume people have
knowledge.

If you don't like the way I respond to things, maybe you should just ignore
me and be on your way instead of telling people how they should or
shouldn't respond to a question. It's not your job to judge others
responses.

qurgh
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