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What Is the Meaning of CE and BCE? The letters CE or BCE in conjunction with a year mean after or before year 1. CE is an abbreviation for Common Era. It means the same as AD (Anno Domini) and represents the time from year 1 and onward. BCE is short for Before Common Era. It can be used instead of BC (Before Christ) and stands for the time ...
BCE/CE usually refers to the Common Era (the years are the same as AD/BC). That is, BC is usually understood to mean "Before the Common Era" and CE to mean "Common Era," though it is possible to reinterpret the abbreviations as "Christian Era." The simplest reason for using BCE/CE as opposed to AD/BC is to avoid reference to Christianity and ...
The years we know of as AD are now to be known as CE, "Common Era", and the years we know of as BC are to be known as BCE, "Before Common Era". How a mere change of abbreviation can be deemed politically correct, when the underlying concept of a time-system based on a minority religion remains the same, is anybody's guess!
The reason is a matter of history. There are many dating systems. Writers of Athens and Rome dated by the year of annually elected officials (in Rome, consulships).
The confusion arises from the fact that there are two common conventions for grouping consecutive years into centuries, and that the boundaries of the resulting centuries are not aligned. "The 1800s" refers to the 100 years numbered 18xx, i.e. 1800..1899. "The 18th century" refers to the 18th group of 100 years since the start of the common era.
1. It refers to the transition from one century to another, just as turn of the page refers to the transition from one page to another. In the turn of the xth century, the xth century could be the old one or the new one, but for my money it is more likely to be the old one in British English, despite the Wikipedia entry cited below. – user339660.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, fifth edition (2010) divides the figurative meaning into (a) and (b) parts: lowest common denominator n. 1. See least common denominator. 2a. The most basic, least sophisticated level of taste, sensibility, or opinion among a group of people. b.
The OED entry says. d. passing into adj., in the slang phr. common or garden, a jocular substitute for ‘common’, ‘ordinary’. [1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xxix. 59 But the Common or Garden Nightshade is not dangerous.] 1892 Autobiog. Eng. Gamekeeper (J. Wilkins) 67 It was as large as a common—or garden—hen.
In your question, you mention lack of education. In my opinion, education doesn't really factor in to how much someone swears or whether they swear more than others. People are people. It is common in historical discussions to portray farmers, sailors, soldiers, etc as the swearing types and upper crust as more reserved. I think that's baloney.
bitch (v.) "to complain," attested at least from 1930, perhaps from the sense in bitchy, perhaps influenced by the verb meaning "to bungle, spoil," which is recorded from 1823. But bitched in this sense seems to echo Middle English bicched "cursed, bad," a general term of opprobrium (as in Chaucer's bicched bones "unlucky dice"), which despite ...