No Stupid Questions

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Why does bi-weekly mean "every two weeks?" This has always bothered me because intuitively it should mean "twice a week." (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Similar case in point: "bimonthly" means "twice a month." That makes sense.

But the definition for "bi-weekly" does not make sense.

What do you think?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Not necessarily. The definition allows biweekly to mean both, because bi- simply refers to their being 2, so it is defined as being "twice per" or "every two". If it could only be used in the way you present then the word bifurcate would mean to replicate, as opposed to divide in two.

That being said, dictionaries will often note that semi- should be used to avoid confusion, and writing style guides, like Chicago, will state semi- needs to be used for instances where you mean twice a week.