what does this term mean to you? it appears to be ambiguious

7/29/2010 12:00:54 PM

the options being

1) once every two weeks
2) twice a week

?

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 12:02 PM. Reason : twice a week is a stretch]

7/29/2010 12:01:44 PM

nah, dont think so

7/29/2010 12:01:50 PM

Same sex partners twice a week?

7/29/2010 12:03:06 PM

It should mean 2x per week because fortnight is already a word.

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

7/29/2010 12:03:11 PM

i thought it was a ~ magazine that comes once a week

7/29/2010 12:03:18 PM

biweekly = every two weeks
semiweekly = twice a week

7/29/2010 12:03:43 PM

Quote :

"i thought it was a ~ magazine that comes once a week"

that was my other thought

7/29/2010 12:04:43 PM

Quote :

"biweekly = every two weeks semiweekly = twice a week"

not a grammar nazi or anything but i think you got this backwards bud

7/29/2010 12:12:55 PM

it means both

but primarily "once every two weeks"

using it to mean "twice a week" is very british

7/29/2010 12:18:52 PM

7/29/2010 12:23:25 PM

^^^ check again. what I posted is correct.

^^it does not mean both

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

7/29/2010 12:23:34 PM

biweekly is commonly used in the UK to mean twice per week

it is rarely used that way in the US

but it can, in fact, mean either one

7/29/2010 12:30:22 PM

in britain it means twice per week. in the u.s. it means every two weeks. i don't care if others chose to continue to bastardize the language. that is what those words mean and if you want to sound educated, you will use them properly.

7/29/2010 12:41:23 PM

in that case, one might argue that the british are using the word properly while we upstart americans are the ones bastardizing the language

surely, though, you must realize that english is a living language, and just like the saga of "all right" vs. "alright" over the past 400 years, popular usage will eventually dictate what is right and what is wrong

i do not own an OED, and therefore can not discern the time and place that the "twice a week" usage came into being

one day, i will be a rich fucker with an OED

7/29/2010 12:43:25 PM

yes, one could argue that but the language split years ago and have continued to evolve, individually. and i do realize languages are living and change over time... don't treat me as a fool. however, the language should change for the better, to create new ways to communicating, to rid the language of confusing, repetitive, etc. terms and phrases. thus, being lazy and saying that biweekly=semiweekly does not advance the language, it only muddies it, we lose by doing this. it is the confusion of two terms and acceptance of this improper usage only weakens the language. it would be abundantly clear if people used these terms in their proper situations and the language would be better off.

as for the all right and alright, I believe that's an advancement in the language, just as adding y'all to the language would be.

7/29/2010 12:52:26 PM

im embarassed but that is a little out of my read-range atm

7/29/2010 12:53:41 PM

My first impression is always to think once every two weeks. This being tdub, just as I clicked the thread a bi magazine came to mind and there was brief suspense. That probably wouldn't have happened out of context. Anyway, the British thing was new information to me so thanks. /ignorant

7/29/2010 1:14:40 PM

Quote :

"as for the all right and alright, I believe that's an advancement in the language"

Which one? My point was that "alright" is considered nonstandard but was considered standard at one point in time.

7/29/2010 1:16:10 PM

I thought it meant you went gay once every other week in America and gay twice per week if you were in the UK.

7/29/2010 1:22:28 PM

i get paid every two weeks, so is this biweekly or bimonthly?

7/29/2010 1:47:09 PM

^Bi-weekly OR semi-monthly

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 1:48 PM. Reason : -]

7/29/2010 1:48:19 PM

^^ you get paid weakly son.

7/29/2010 1:49:38 PM

both definitions are correct; which is why you almost never see it in anything in AP style. The ambiguity puts it on the hit list.


However, according to the stylebook for AP; biweekly is every 2 weeks, not twice weekly (like most dictionaries).

AP:

Quote :

"biweekly Every other week. Semiweekly means twice a week."

Websters:

Quote :

"Main Entry: 1bi·week·ly Pronunciation: \(?)bi-'we-kle\ Function: adjective Date: 1832 1 : occurring twice a week"

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 1:59 PM. Reason : quotes]

7/29/2010 1:51:33 PM

oh ok so those commercials i see on tv about victoria's secret semi annual sale is twice per year, even though the lady has a british accent?

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 1:52 PM. Reason : lul]

7/29/2010 1:52:06 PM

semi = half

7/29/2010 1:56:46 PM

off topic, but I hate how they use British accents to make people sound more intelligent or cultured... and how they use southern accents to make people sound dumb

7/29/2010 1:57:43 PM

southern accents are stereotyped into ignorance

i guess british accents are supposed to be "cultured" when its more arrogant

7/29/2010 1:59:44 PM

i didnt know this was even a debate?

biweekly is every 2 weeks

GAH DAMN SOME IGNANT FOLK USURPIN MAH LANGUAGE

7/29/2010 2:21:54 PM

i see thats why when we get boners we say we have a semi and not a 'biboner'


cause that would be two boners

7/29/2010 2:58:14 PM

^^ I mean, I did post websters dictionary

7/29/2010 4:51:41 PM

webster's is the food lion brand of dictionaries

7/29/2010 4:56:23 PM

webster's

do you realize how much bigger the OED is than webster's

7/29/2010 4:57:30 PM

OED >>>>> Websters

7/29/2010 7:56:47 PM

bicentennial = 2 centuries
biweek = 2 weeks

[Edited on July 29, 2010 at 7:58 PM. Reason : ]

7/29/2010 7:58:26 PM

but its not bicentennially

7/29/2010 7:59:14 PM

OED = encyclopedia of words

7/29/2010 8:00:35 PM

i've never been bi anything.

7/29/2010 8:03:15 PM

I was waiting for that.

Bi Weekly.
It's the news.

7/29/2010 8:07:51 PM

or were you?

7/29/2010 8:10:02 PM