this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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No Stupid Questions

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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] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I prefer the opposite system. If someone said to me: we will meet two weekly, it seems closer to “twice weekly” than once every two weeks. Where as semi weekly saying “half weekly” makes it sound like one half of the weeks we meet and the other half we don’t. I have no idea how anyone thinks that meaning semi-weekly means twice weekly. Even the “we meet every half week” makes little sense to me syntax-wise.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

If someone said to me: we will meet two weekly...

You're essentially assuming the conclusion by grouping it like that. There are three parts to "biweekly", "bi-", "week", and "-ly". "Once per biweek", i.e. once per 14 days (or per fortnight), makes at least as much sense as "two" × "weekly".

I have no idea how anyone thinks that meaning semi-weekly means twice weekly.

Meeting semiweekly (semiweek-ly, if you must hyphenate it) means meeting every semiweek, or every half-week (3.5 days). Which is an odd internal to meet at if taken literally but would result in meeting twice each week. "Semiannually" is a more common example, and I've never seen or heard it used to refer to anything but a 6-month (half-year) interval.