[Old Student]

"Just remember that it stands for Before Christian Era"

according to every authoritative text I've read in the past 30 or 40 years, it means Before Common Era. The intent was to both eliminate specific references to Christianity in non-christian contexts, and to help eliminate the introduced errors caused by sloppy calculations and incomplete records in the BC/AD dating system. I can stand to use either system, unlike some, but I do like the attempt at better precision. I can't understand why so many people insist on a dating system so full of errors and inconsistencies...

When and if they ever come up with a better system, I'll accept that, and dump BCE/CE just as quickly. I'm not tied to Bishop Ussher, or anyone else, in matters of dating.

[ThanhPhero]

You can insist on "Common" if you like, but I will stick to "Christian." I prefer not to accept the pagans' usage.