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Help! My client doesn't know it's out of date to say "Before Christ"
Thread poster: Tom in London
Triston Goodwin
Triston Goodwin  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:07
Spanish to English
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I wasn't going to comment, but... Apr 25, 2013

I had mentioned this to some of my friends and family members, one of which stated "what, you mean B.C. doesn't mean, before cellphones?"

Christopher Schröder
 
Kenny Shin
Kenny Shin
South Korea
Local time: 18:07
English to Korean
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Korean side Jun 25, 2013

Heinrich Pesch wrote:

In Finnish we use eaa (ennen ajanlaskumme alkua = before beginning of our calendar) and jaa (jälkeen ajanlaskumme alkua = after beginning of our calender), if we want to be confession-neutral.

Wikipedia supports BC and AD for English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini

I wonder if anyone could be offended by us using Christian terminology. Do you get offended if Jews or Muslims use their terminology?


[Bearbeitet am 2013-04-21 16:32 GMT]


Both Japan and Koreas have used traditional dating systems for most of their history meaning NOT Christian or Gregorian ones. Most of the hundreds of Chinese dynasties and kingdoms as well.

We all know very well why we say 2013 AD and why books and movies say Confucius was born about 500 BC. Very few of the 1.5 billion or so people living in the northeastern Asia don't like it, but still use it and will continue to do so for at least several more decades. You should have asked every one of them before inventing something to complement BC/AD. It does not neutralize Christian domination, but just extends it.

BTW, I am for standardization opposing most attempts regarding the use of nationalistic year counting systems by those who prefer their dead kings and queens to Jesus Christ. The use of BC/AD is also nationalistic just as Jesus Christ and Christianity were nationalistic, but most people alive today using BC/AD adopted the habit without first being nationalist. Ambrose Li explained it better.


Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Luigi Giacomo Trani
Luigi Giacomo Trani
United States
Local time: 05:07
Italian to English
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Modernity does not necessarily mean right Oct 14, 2019

The use of BCE and CE is recent and the main reason can be found in a "desire" to find terminology that is inclusive, not related to a specific context or culture. By doing so we reject the true origin of words or nomenclature. We have to admit that whichever acronym we choose, what matters is the number we use. If we use 2019 to indicate a year, then it becomes obvious that we refer to the birth of Jesus Christ, therefore, it would be likewise fair to use BC and AD.
As to the Italian lang
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The use of BCE and CE is recent and the main reason can be found in a "desire" to find terminology that is inclusive, not related to a specific context or culture. By doing so we reject the true origin of words or nomenclature. We have to admit that whichever acronym we choose, what matters is the number we use. If we use 2019 to indicate a year, then it becomes obvious that we refer to the birth of Jesus Christ, therefore, it would be likewise fair to use BC and AD.
As to the Italian language, we still normally use a.C. and d.C. respectively avanti Cristo and dopo Cristo.
In paleography and philology inscriptions generally also AD is used.
It should not pose scandal, as many suggest, the classical, "old fashioned" forms, as much of European culture is historically rooted in Christianity.
It is thanks to it, although many seem to refute or reject it, that human values have become the base of modern countries. Of course I do not wish to carry on the topic any further as it may entail other considerations, some justly objectionable.
As far as using a date, we could even refer to year 2019 AD as to the year 2772 UC meaning to the year after the foundation of Rome (ab Urbe Condita), but of course, that went into disuse a long time ago.
Last but not least, if the usage of the Christian calendar (Julian) is a problem, don't we all agree that we would have to find new names for the days of the week and the months, as well?
These issues (misleading, in my opinion) would then expand and affect, most of all, the English language, which, historically and linguistically speaking, has been strongly influenced by Latin and Romance languages, namely French.

[Edited at 2019-10-14 13:41 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-10-14 13:42 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-10-14 13:43 GMT]
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Liviu-Lee Roth
Arabic & More
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
neilmac
 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 05:07
Japanese to English
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"Before Christ" Oct 14, 2019

This BCE/CE nonsense is part of the "woke" phenomenon where people in the West have to flagellate themselves for having a Europe-based civilization.

There is a movement afoot in California to do away with all of the place names that reference Christianity. So goodbye San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Santa Anita, etc. I doubt if it will succeed.

For some years now the advertising world in the US has substituted "the holidays" for "Christmas" in order not to gi
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This BCE/CE nonsense is part of the "woke" phenomenon where people in the West have to flagellate themselves for having a Europe-based civilization.

There is a movement afoot in California to do away with all of the place names that reference Christianity. So goodbye San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Santa Anita, etc. I doubt if it will succeed.

For some years now the advertising world in the US has substituted "the holidays" for "Christmas" in order not to give offense to non-Christians (however, for some reason, sales after December 25 after referred to as "after-Christmas sales"). "Christmas trees" have become "holiday trees", etc. etc. ad nauseam). Not everyone goes along with it.

BC/AD is part of Western culture. Get over it!.
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Cetacea
John Fossey
writeaway
Rachel Fell
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
neilmac
Florence Bremond
 
Keijo Sarv
Keijo Sarv  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 11:07
English to Estonian
Other Dec 8, 2019

LEXpert wrote:
That's exactly why such PC avoidance of BC and AD is pointless. In both nomenclatures, the reference date is known to be the birth of Christ, so any persons of non-Christian religions who might be offended will be offended anyway. What's the purpose of writing the date in a paper on Islamic art as (basically) XX "Before Him Who Must Not Be Named", when everybody - Christian or not - knows exactly who the referenced He is?


Why would Jesus be considered "Him Who Must Not Be Named" in Islam when Jesus is recognized part of Islam (muslims just do not believe he was son of God but "simply" one of prophets), and even most mentioned person in Quaran.
Although I do not know if muslims use BC and AD.


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:07
Spanish to English
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Startled - moi? Dec 10, 2019

Au contraire, mon frère. I'm a native English speaker and I'm perfectly comfortable with BC/AD, which are the terms I was brought up with. To me, the newfangled, or politically correct, if that's what it's meant to be, version looks a bit odd and could easily be confused with other abbreviations.

Having said that, I usually adhere to the adage "the customer is always right", so if the person paying for the translation wants me to use specific forms, I have no qualms about doing so.
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Au contraire, mon frère. I'm a native English speaker and I'm perfectly comfortable with BC/AD, which are the terms I was brought up with. To me, the newfangled, or politically correct, if that's what it's meant to be, version looks a bit odd and could easily be confused with other abbreviations.

Having said that, I usually adhere to the adage "the customer is always right", so if the person paying for the translation wants me to use specific forms, I have no qualms about doing so.



[Edited at 2019-12-10 16:09 GMT]
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Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:07
German to English
"adhere to the adage 'the customer is always right'" Dec 11, 2019

That's also my solution, except when the customer is clearly wrong, and it is not clearly wrong to use CE or AD in most contexts. (Or, at least, it is very unlikely that a German client would use "n. u. Z." in a context where "CE" would be inappropriate.)

For me, this is not a case of "If it's not broke, don't fix it," but it is a case of "If you don't have a better solution, don't fix it." Rabid leftwinger, multiculturalist and atheist that I am, I still can't see any real advantag
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That's also my solution, except when the customer is clearly wrong, and it is not clearly wrong to use CE or AD in most contexts. (Or, at least, it is very unlikely that a German client would use "n. u. Z." in a context where "CE" would be inappropriate.)

For me, this is not a case of "If it's not broke, don't fix it," but it is a case of "If you don't have a better solution, don't fix it." Rabid leftwinger, multiculturalist and atheist that I am, I still can't see any real advantage in a cosmetic change to the name if the system is still based on a largely Western and entirely Christian historical reference point. And the gains brought by the new system would have to be extremely high to outweigh the costs of the shift.

Muslims have a differently structured calender with a different Year Zero, and the books I have read about Muslim history usually provide both years and sometimes both dates.
I know China has its own calender, and I would assume that historical works about China refer to both systems.
If you read books about Ancient Greek history, they also often include their dates based on their own Year Zero and structure ("olympiads").
There is also BP (abbreviation for "before 1950," although I suppose the "present" could be updated to 2000, in order to make the math easier).
The German term "n. u. Z." ("nach unserer Zeitrechnung" = according to our way of calculating time) presents exactly the same problem as "CE," but it could easily be corrected to "n. w. Z." (according to the Western way of calculating time): I'd be on board for that, because it would be a very low-cost solution that addresses the actual problem that most people are not Christians or Westerners.
I don't know a good way to transfer that solution into English, though.
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Help! My client doesn't know it's out of date to say "Before Christ"







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