this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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No Stupid Questions
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Think of biweekly and biweekly as homonyms, they can mean either and you figure out the meaning through context.
Very few things happen twice a week, biweekly usually means every second week, but it's never used because fortnightly is preferred.
Others here are saying bimonthly means twice a month but I've never heard it used that way. Again, very few things happen twice a month, it's always fortnightly which is not the same. Lots of things happen every second month, "the board meets bimonthly", that means 6 times a year.
Biannual always means twice a year because what things do you do every second year?
In all cases you can use the alternative meaning like "I visit my cousin biannually" and it's not incorrect but of course "I visit my cousin every second year" avoids confusion.
The word for an occurrence of every two years or for a duration of two years is biennial. Plenty of events are biennial, such as festivals, exhibitions and conferences. The Olympics and Football World Cup are quadrennial.
And plants.
Because biennial is a word that exists, that doesn't mean biannual does not have the same meaning.
But if you took a moment to look it up, you'd see that it does have different meanings than "biennial".
Good lord. I made a mistake. Fuck me.
Biannual does indeed have potentially different meanings to biennial. In that you are correct.
However, my point as I'm sure you are aware, is that the existence of the word "biennial" does not imply that "biannual" can not mean 2 years.
Lots of people get paid twice a month
I'm a tax consultant. I look at what companies pay people all day every day. I've never seen a company pay twice monthly. Always fortnightly. This might vary by region but unheard of here.
In America this is ridiculously common. Many people are paid every two weeks, but many are paid twice a month. Very common.
Amazing.
Just to note, while fortnightly is used frequently in many countries, it is almost never used in the US, which I think is what contributes to the posters confusion (assuming they are from the US) .
The most typical "biennial" event is the lifecycle of many plants.