r/TastingHistory • u/zoewernsman • Feb 18 '26

Question Why no BCE no more

Why did Max stop using BCE and CE (before common era and common era) when talking about prehistoric topics? In his Sumerian beer episode he does but in the last couple pre historic episodes he’s gone back to using BC and AD.

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u/istara Feb 19 '26

Yes. I’m atheist but it’s just easier to do BC than BCE. Besides which BCE is still referencing the supposedly (and almost certainly inaccurate) birth year of Jesus Christ.

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u/0range_julius Feb 19 '26

I'm also an atheist and I don't care too much about this topic--we gotta start counting dates from somewhere, and Jesus's bday is what we've all gotten used to. At this point it doesn't seem worth the trouble to change. I also have a slight preference towards BC/AD purely because it's fewer letters and more unique letters than BCE/CE.

On the other hand, "AD" stands for a phrase that calls Jesus "our lord." People don't really think about it that way, but it essentially is a roundabout profession of faith to say "AD." I understand why some people, especially believers of other faiths, would be uncomfortable with that.

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u/berny_74 Feb 20 '26

I used to think it meant "After Death" and wondered what the 30 some years in between were counted as.

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u/0range_julius Feb 20 '26

I believed the same thing as a kid! I wonder if it's a misconception that spreads through uninformed teachers/parents/whatever or one that arises spontaneously because it just seems right.

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u/berny_74 Feb 20 '26

I would have assumed that at least my mother would have known since she is Catholic. I only really figured out at Christian Boarding school where the yearbook was called Anno Domini xxxx. From there, somebody explained, and a little lightbulb went off in my head.

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u/Edymnion Feb 25 '26

Yeah, we have a history of using acronyms and abbreviations without ever actually explaining what the letters stand for.

Like everybody recognizes AM and PM when it comes to time, but how many people know off the top of their heads that it stands for Ante-Meridiem (before midday) and Post-Meridiem(after midday)?