My list of pet peeves is long and probably too boring to share with you here.

Here, though, is one that I keep noticing.

It refers to “12 p.m.” and “12 a.m.”

I worked as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers for nearly 37 years and I got dialed in to style guides published by The Associated Press and United Press International. Both news services emphasized that we refer to the time at the middle of the day as “noon” and the bewitching hour in the dead of night as “midnight.” Newspapers where I worked all adhered to the style guides published either by the AP or UPI.

I am somewhat puzzled as to why businesses that advertise, say, their time of operation, have to refer to noon as 12 p.m. and midnight as 12 a.m.

Or is it the other way around?

See? “Noon” and “midnight” would settle it.