So I’ve tried googling this before and I am still so stupid and confused like my brain cannot wrap around how to read these different abbreviations for time and what they actually mean.
The easiest is B.P. (Before present/1950) because I can just do the calculation to turn that into C.E. (Current Era – so like saying 2023 CE is right now, right?), but how do these ways of expressing time translate to one another?
Like for example, A.D. (“in the year of the lord”, but does this translate to C.E.? Are these the same?) 500 vs 500 B.C. (Before Christ? I’m not religious so idk what this really means irl). How are these different and how do they translate into B.P. And C.E. terms? How can I remember which one to use? Explain it to me like I’m 5 and like it’s my first day on the fucking planet. Thank you!
In: 54
AD: Anno Domini, which means “Year of Our Lord”. This the same as CE, or “Common Era” which is just the same thing but without a religious reference.
This is based on the guess of the guy who invented the calendar as to the year Jesus was born. This is 1 AD or CE
BC: Before Christ, or BCE “Before Common Era”. This is the year before Jesus was born, according to the explanation above. 1 BC/BCE.
There is no 0 in this system, so it goes 3 BC, 2 BC, 1 BC, 1 AD, 2 AD, 3 AD
Latest Answers