Okay, if "biannually" means something happens twice a year, why does "bimonthly" mean both "occurring every two months" and "occurring twice a month"? Ditto for "biweekly". Twice a week or once every two weeks?
My friend Kathy was explaining to me that she had a bimonthly newsletter and I wondered how often she published it. She got freaked out until we both looked in the dictionary. She'd been saying bimonthly for years.
I will be at my semi-annual, Back to School training in Boston for the next 3 days, that means either:
- Drea and I will be taking pictures with her cell phone and trying to load them up as we wander around Boston
- I won't be posting until next Monday
Either way it's a treat, wouldn't you say?
It's not really semi-annual, its annual. Its just we have so many people, we have to break it into two sessions.
Because people mis-use "bi" to mean "semi" all the time (more often than not)
Bi= "once every 2" like bicentennial (you celebrate it ever 2 centennials = 200 years)
Semi="twice every" like semi annual clearance sale...happens twice a year (and who doesn't love that?)
I just heard "bi" mis-used yesterday. Happens all the time and I ask the same clarifying question.
Have fun in Boston...one of my favorite cities.
Lauren - that is so funny, I was so caught up in the whole "bi" thing I failed to call our BTS event "annual"!
Heather - thanks for clarifying! But wait a minute - take a look at both bimonthly and biweekly on Merriam-Webster's site. Have people been misusing it so much that now it's in the dictionary?
Here's their entry for bimonthly:
1 : occurring every two months
2 : occurring twice a month: SEMIMONTHLY
and biweekly:
1 : occurring twice a week
2 : occurring every two weeks: FORTNIGHTLY
And love, love, love Boston. If only someone could convince them to serve alcohol after 12am (okay 1 in some bars) and to sell beer and wine in their grocery stores.
Yeah, they are wrong. Malapropisms drive me nuts; especially the legitimization of them. Sheesh we are sloppy talkers in this country! Guess that explains Anna Nicole Smith.
Heather - do I hear someone looking to make a move to Microsoft's Canadian recruiting team?