Shadowing Practice: Why Do We Call It AM and PM? The Surprisingly Ancient Reason [ID0801] - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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If you've spent your entire life checking the time,
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If you've spent your entire life checking the time,
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setting alarms, or arranging schedules,
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then you've probably come across something so normal that you never even questioned it.
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The labels AM and PM.
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They're printed on clocks, digital displays,
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airline tickets, calendars, and phones.
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So familiar that we rarely stop to think about what they actually mean.
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But behind these two simple abbreviations lies a long history of astronomy,
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ancient civilizations, Roman influence,
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and the way humans have always tried to bring order to something as wild and unstoppable as time itself.
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Today, we're diving deep into why we call the first half of the day AM,
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the second half PM, and why the world still uses this system,
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even when there's an alternative 24-hour clock available.
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Let's explore right here on History of Simple Things.
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To understand AM and PM,
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you need to go all the way back to the civilizations that lived and died under the movement of the sun.
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For thousands of years, humans used sunlight as their primary reference for time,
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when the sun rose, when it was at its highest point,
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and when it set.
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The midpoint of the day,
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when the sun is directly overhead,
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was incredibly important for navigation,
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rituals, farming, and even survival.
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Ancient Egyptians used sundials thousands of years ago,
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dividing daylight into 12 hours based purely on the movement of shadows.
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But it wasn't until the ancient Romans
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that the idea of naming the periods before and after the sun's highest point became more formal and linguistic.
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They used Latin not just for religion or literature, but for daily life.
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So naturally, timekeeping terminology evolved in Latin as well.
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This brings us to the actual words.
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AM stands for ante meridiem,
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which literally means before midday or before the meridian,
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with meridium referring to the sun's position at its apex.
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Meanwhile, PM stands for post-meridium, meaning after midday.
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The concept is simple.
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The 12-hour cycle resets every time the sun reaches that midpoint.
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From midnight until just before noon,
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everything is considered ante meridium,
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leading up to the sun's highest point.
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And from noon until just before the next midnight, everything is post meridium.
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What's interesting is
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that these terms refer specifically to the sun's position relative to an imaginary line in the sky called the meridian,
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essentially a vertical arc running from the north pole to the south pole across your location.
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At solar noon, the sun crosses this meridian,
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marking that exact midpoint of the day.
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So a.m and p.m are literally describing the sun's cosmic travel schedule.
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Now here's something that confuses almost everyone at some point.
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Why is 12 p.m actually noon and 12 a.m actually midnight?
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Shouldn't noon be neither before nor after midday?
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You're right.
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By strict definition, noon is neither a.m nor p.m.
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Same with midnight.
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But because the timekeeping system needed labels for schedules,
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clocks, and communication, we applied the terms anyway.
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Historically, there were attempts to fix this.
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Some clocks used the word noon and midnight instead of a.m p.m.
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Some old railways labeled midnight as zero o'clock and noon as 12m.
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But eventually, by widespread convention,
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not by logic, 12 p.m became noon simply
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because it's easier to treat the numbers increasing after 12 o'clock as entering the post-midday cycle.
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Midnight got stuck with 12 a.m because it begins the before-midday hours.
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It's not mathematically elegant, but it's how the world standardized it.
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As you might expect, the 12-hour AM-PM format isn't universal.
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A large portion of the world uses the 24-hour clock,
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also known as military time.
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In that format, the day runs from 0 o'clock to 23.59 without resetting halfway way.
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Midnight is zero o'clock.
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Noon is 12 o'clock.
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And instead of saying 8 PM,
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you simply say 20 o'clock.
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It's logical.
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It reduces confusion.
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And it's used heavily in Europe,
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Asia, science, aviation, and medicine.
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So why does the United States,
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Canada, the Philippines, and several other countries still popularly use AM and PM?
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A lot of it comes down to cultural habit,
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historical practice, and the fact that analog clocks,
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which dominated for centuries, were designed around 12-hour cycles.
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The 12-hour format is also easy to read quickly and matches ancient human rhythms tied to daylight and night cycles.
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Even though digital systems allow for 24-hour displays,
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many cultures simply felt no need to change.
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However, the Latin term stuck because English,
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unlike some other languages, borrowed heavily from Latin in its early scientific,
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religious, and academic development.
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Timekeeping was something the Church and astronomers dealt with extensively,
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and both depended on Latin terms.
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So by the time English clocks and schedules became standardized,
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AM and PM were already the accepted scholarly way of referring to the two halves of the day.
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And because English-speaking nations spread their influence globally through trade,
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colonization, and technology, the system went with them.
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The result is that even in countries that now use the 24-hour clock,
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you can still find AM and PM in old documents,
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historic buildings, and traditional literature.
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In the big picture, AM and PM aren't just labels on your alarm clock.
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They're snapshots of history, history,
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echoes of ancient astronomers, Roman scholars,
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sundial makers, church timekeepers, and early scientists who shaped how the modern world understands time.
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The next time you set an early morning alarm or schedule a late-night meeting,
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remember, you're using a system older than most languages,
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older than modern nations, and older than the technology that now depends on it.
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And that system continues to work centuries later because of two simple Latin phrases,
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ante meridium and post meridium.
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If you enjoyed this video,
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please check out our other bingeable channels.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Watching videos like "Why Do We Call It AM and PM?" provides a rich opportunity for English speaking practice. The engaging content not only captivates your interest but also serves a dual purpose: it enhances your understanding of the English language and culture while offering practical context for conversation. By shadowing the speaker, you can mimic intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation, which are vital components of fluent speech.

Utilizing the shadowing technique, you can practice articulating phrases just as they are spoken in real-time. As you learn about ancient civilizations and the etymology of AM and PM, you're able to internalize vocabulary and expressions that are relevant in everyday discussions about time, schedules, and history. This dual engagement boosts your confidence and aids in retaining language patterns.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

In the video, several grammatical structures and expressions create a rich learning experience:

  • Use of Terms: The phrases "ante meridiem" and "post meridiem" highlight how Latin influenced English vocabulary, particularly in timekeeping.
  • Present Continuous Tense: The speaker uses phrases like "we are diving deep into," which not only relates to the content but also demonstrates how to express ongoing actions.
  • Defining Concepts: The video includes definitions: "AM stands for ante meridiem, which means before midday." This structure is beneficial for learners who want to clarify new terminology.
  • Complex Sentences: The speaker utilizes complex sentences, like “The midpoint of the day... was incredibly important,” showing how ideas can be connected fluidly, which is crucial for advanced speaking practice.

Engaging with these structures through a shadow speak approach enables you to practice them in context, making your learning more effective and memorable.

Common Pronunciation Traps

While watching, learners may encounter specific words and phrases that are tricky to pronounce. Paying attention to these can significantly improve your speaking skills:

  • Ante Meridiem: This Latin term can be difficult. Focus on the syllables: "an-te mer-id-i-em." Try breaking it down slowly when practicing.
  • Post Meridiem: Similarly, "post mer-id-i-em" requires careful articulation. Pay close attention to the "mer" sounds, ensuring a clear separation between each syllable.
  • Midday: The term "midday" is often mispronounced as "mid-day" but should be pronounced as a single word, focusing on a smooth and natural delivery.

To enhance your practice, consider using a shadowing app that allows you to repeat sections of the video, emphasizing these challenging terms until they feel natural. Consistency in practicing with videos like this aids significantly in mastering English pronunciation.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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