To me, the difference between circa [ca] and bef is that circa means 'around/about' and bef is generally any time before that date. That's how I use them. Fran L On 26/03/2015 7:47 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) via wrote: > There are times when I know something happened before a date: I > sometimes wonder how precise I should be with the date. For example, say > someone is known, on a specific date, to be a widow(er): obviously, the > DOD of the spouse is BEF(ore) that date. But do I say BEF ddmmyyyy? > That's strictly _correct_, and on the whole is what I do, but some > people seeing it might think it means they died quite close to it. > > I was just wondering how others express the date when they use BEEF. > > (Side idle thought: when the husband dies first, the wife is widowed, > becoming a widow. When the wife dies first, the husband becomes a > widower - so is he widowed, or widowered?) --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com