If You Are Going To Use AD Wrong, Just Use CE
Please, for the love of God
As someone who writes extensively about history, I get asked this question a lot. Why do you use CE instead of AD? Isn’t AD more traditional? CE is “politically correct” or “revisionist.”
To be fair, CE (which stands for Common Era) is new. It removes the religious undertones of AD (Anno domini), which means in the year of the Lord (Jesus Christ).
I use CE because, one, it is being used more and more in academic circles. But mostly, it is because everyone, including you, uses AD wrong, and it is horrifically irritating.
Do you know what everyone does wrong? AD is supposed to go before the year. Yet, everyone puts it after the year.
The year is AD 2022.
The year is not 2022 AD.
The confusion arises because BC (Before Christ) goes after the year.
The year 2022 BC is correct.
But here’s the kicker. CE is designed to be put after the year. That means all of you who erroneously continue to put AD after the year can rest assured you are in the right if you put CE after the year.
The current year is 2022 CE or AD 2022.
