Play it smart: Don’t use 12 a.m./12 p.m.

Quick, is 12 a.m. noon or midnight? What about 12 p.m., is that midnight or noon?

Don’t know the answer? Don’t feel stupid, most readers won’t either.

And that’s a good reason to not use either term. Doing so is akin to including words from a foreign language that your readers wouldn’t know.

Instead, use noon or midnight.

Incidentally, 12 a.m. is midnight, and 12 p.m. is noon.