Fortnightly, biweekly etc etc

[Miss Chicken]

This came up in a thread in TNZ but I think it is best to discuss it here.

1) What term to use for something that occurs every two weeks

2) What term do you use for something that occurs two times a week.

Ditto with

Twice a month
Every second month

Twice a year
Every two years

 

[Kestra]

Twice a year - semi-annual
Every two years - Bi-annual

It just makes sense to me that way since semi is like half, and bi is two. I don't know if it's right though, now that I think about it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't use any special words for those intervals.

 

[Miss Chicken]

The terms I use

Every two weeks = fortnightly
Twice a week = twice-weekly

twice a year = twice-yearly (i visit my inlaws twice yearly, once at Easter, again at Christmas)

Or

Half-yearly if it is something that occurs every six months (The company releases half-yearly reports)


I don't use the term bimonthly because that is a fortnight as well.

When I see the word biweekly I am confused as to whether the term means twice a week, or every two weeks because it can mean either.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Whenever something happens twice a month, I say it happens "twice a month."

Whenever something happens every second month, I say it happens "every other month."

Same with years.

 

[trampledamage]

bi-weekly is confusing because it can mean both, so I don't use it.

I use fortnight - but that confuses a lot of Canadians because it isn't that common a term here, so I have to remember to clarify with "in two weeks" or "every two weeks"

I'm rarely very exact on times more distant than that because I don't have need to be, so it's "every couple of/few months/years" as needed.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Because of the confusion, I just avoid the terms biweekly, bimonthly, biannually, etc. altogether. Whenever anyone uses them on me, I ask for direct clarification. For example,

Them: "We need a report from you biweekly."
Me: "Do you mean twice a week or once every other week?"
​

It's often very important to know.

 

[Marc]

must be something about North America. Never heard the term "bi-weekly' used before moving to Canada and have been known to confuse people when I say "fortnightly".

giving the time here is also different. I'll say it's half past the hour or quarter to the next hour and the wife will say "that's x:30 right?".

 

[Miss Chicken]

It is almost half past two in Tasmania.

 

[RoJoHen]

"Fortnight" is definitely not a term used around here. I'm not sure I've ever even heard it spoken aloud.

If something happens every two weeks, I'd probably say "every two weeks," "every other week," or "twice a month."

 

[trampledamage]

giving the time here is also different. I'll say it's half past the hour or quarter to the next hour and the wife will say "that's x:30 right?".

Yeah that's another one I have to watch - especially since I have a bad habit of shortening it even further and just saying "half-eight" - that's been translated by a Canadian as 7:30 before!

 

[Paradon]

Every other week-every two weeks
twice a week-two times a week

 

[Bisz]

I don't use those terms since they do end up being ambiguous and more confusing than helpful.

 

[scotpens]

Every two weeks: Biweekly or just every two weeks.

Two times a week: Usually twice a week.

Twice a month: Twice a month or semimonthly.

Every second month: Every other month or bimonthly.

Twice a year: Semiannually, or just twice a year.

Every two years: Biannually, or every two years.

. . . When I see the word biweekly I am confused as to whether the term means twice a week, or every two weeks because it can mean either.

Apparently there’s been a lot of ambiguity in defining these terms since the 1970s. But I still say biweekly means every two weeks, semiweekly means twice a week, biannual (or biennial) means every two years, and semiannual means twice a year. Logically, they can’t mean anything else.

. . . giving the time here is also different. I'll say it's half past the hour or quarter to the next hour and the wife will say "that's x:30 right?".

The phrases “a quarter past,” “half past,” and “a quarter to” are falling out of use because young people today seldom see a traditional clock face. They’re accustomed to seeing the time displayed on digital readouts.

And to me, the sort of person who uses “fortnightly” is a bowler-hatted, brolly-carrying, Savile Row-tailored gent. Which I am definitely not.

 

[trampledamage]

And to me, the sort of person who uses “fortnightly” is a bowler-hatted, brolly-carrying, Saville Row-tailored gent. Which I am definitely not.

And I am, on the inside

 

[Paradon]

I think if you say every other day it makes a lot of sense. It sounds better than saying every two days. [chuckle]

 

[Canadave]

giving the time here is also different. I'll say it's half past the hour or quarter to the next hour and the wife will say "that's x:30 right?".

I've lived in Canada my whole life, and I've always used those terms for the time.

 

[tomalak301]

The only time I've heard the term Fortnight is in Shakespeare writing. Not something that is commonly used and I'm glad this thread explained what exactly it means. I actually thought Fortnight meant something along the lines of "tomorrow night".

 

[Miss Chicken]

I suppose you must be a little surprised to find out it not an obsolete word but a commonly used word in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and most other Commonwealth countries (excluding Canada, it would seem).

 

[Iasius]

Twice a year - semi-annual
Every two years - Bi-annual

It just makes sense to me that way since semi is like half, and bi is two. I don't know if it's right though, now that I think about it.

According to my dictionary, they're synonyms.