biweekly
biweekly
(OP)
Does biweekly means twice pr week or once every second week (once pr forthnight)?
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS Come Join Us!Are you an
Engineering professional? Join Eng-Tips Forums!
*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail. Posting GuidelinesJobs |
|
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
Since it is not always clear which meaning of biweekly is intended -- "twice as week" or "every two weeks" -- the use of semiweekly for "twice a week" is preferrable because it is unambiguous. Since there is no single, unambiguous term for "every two weeks," this phrase itself is the least confusing to use.
RE: biweekly
M
--
Dr Michael F Platten
RE: biweekly
This may be a regional thing.
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: biweekly
But, on the other hand, semester means half a year. So there could be some logic in it.
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
Four time a night? Every night, in a fort?
RE: biweekly
My question has relevance to a contractual matter. Neither of the parties involved in the negotiations has english (or american for that matter) as their native tounge.
Best regards
Morten
RE: biweekly
Our European customers seem to use bi-weekly alot.
RE: biweekly
Bi- two or double. Bicycle - two wheels, biweekly - two weeks.
Semi- cut it half. Semi-annually, half of a year, semi-skilled - half skilled.
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: biweekly
Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane
RE: biweekly
Dont forget the suffex. "ly", every.
Weekly = every week
biweekly = two every week.
If it is a contractual issue, and it is ambiguous, or subject to differing interpretation, don't use the word.
Spell out exactly what you need.
RE: biweekly
CajunCenturion ... Your definition is spot on.
Tobalcane ... "twice a week" ... I wish.
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
People on this board get a lot of entertainment from poking fun at the variuos meanings some some words can have in different countries or even different parts of thier own country. But, if your considering certain wording on contractual issues, spell out what you want to say in PLAIN English. Avoid any wording that can be missunderstood by anybody unless you have defined exactly what you mean.
NozzleTwister
Houston, Texas
RE: biweekly
I think you are right with regards to use of the word and will use another term thats more presice.
Best regards
Morten
RE: biweekly
Even though biweekly and bimonthly, etc, have primary dictionary definitions meaning "every two weeks" and "every two months" respectively, in common usage they are used roughly equally to mean "twice a week" or "every two weeks", and most dictionaries note both usages. Accordingly, it is best to avoid using the terms altogether - especially in any form of legal contract. If you are having trouble with interpretation while you are drafting the document, why on Earth would you want to leave the term in, for the lawyers to have a field day with later?!
Note that there is one form for which there is a definite distinct usage:
"biannual" = "twice a year" (e.g a biannual plant, if there is such a thing, would flower twice a year.)
"biennial" = "every two years", or "lasting two years" (e.g. a number of cities have biennial arts festivals, every two years.)
However, I would avoid these words as well, because there would be just as much potential for confusion.
It is interesting that there are some "bi-" words for which there is no real likelihood of confusion, even though some of them mean "to double", whereas others mean "to halve":
bilingual = able to speak two languages. (I guess we assume that everyone can speak more than half a language - although this is debatable in some cases. I have a colleague who claims to be bilingual in English and French. Knowing how poor his writing skills are in English, he could be approximately one-quarter literate in two languages, which would make him bilingual, I guess!)
bisect = to cut in half. (But why don't we imagine that we could double an angle, just as easily as halving it?)
bicycle = 2 wheeled vehicle. (Because half a wheel is useless.)
bifurcate = to divide into two branches. (So is this "halving" or "doubling" the original?)
biodegradable = twice as degradable as ordinary plastic (Joke!)
RE: biweekly
Every two weeks means every two weeks.
Surely since we do live in a world where it sometimes appears that we work hard to miscommunicate, someone can find a way to make either or both of the above two statements ambiguous.
Leonard
RE: biweekly
"semi" means "half"
Confusion between the two should only be among the illiterate or semi-literate. (Then, of course, those who know the difference have to deal with the writings of those who do not know the difference, and have to wonder what they meant.)
(Obviously, "bi-literate" here would be an absurd concept, although I suppose it could be applied to someone literate in at least two languages.)
RE: biweekly
Here's another one that drives me nuts: "comprise" is not a fancy word for "compose". It's just the opposite--the whole comprises the parts. I can't remember the last time I saw that word used correctly. Dammit, if you mean "compose", say "compose". Using the "fancier" word doesn't show off your vocabulary; it just marks you as ignorant, even if this error does put you in illustrious and longstanding company. Dammit.
Hg
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
Hg, OT
RE: biweekly
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: biweekly
Let's engineer ourselves out of this problem.
Unlike in maths, no priorities have been assigned to the different operators "bi" and "ly". So we need parentheses:
(biweek)ly means once every two weeks;
bi(weekly) means twice every week.
I know it looks funny (so did the wheel in the beginning) but it works.
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
tri-weekly
try weekly
try weakly
RE: biweekly
If the more clearly understood phrases were not available, then you might have a legitimate argument. Just say what you mean and mean what you say in plain English or whatever langauage you are dealing with. Why would you want to take a chance on being misundrestood especially in the case presented?
For example; in one report writing class we were cautioned not to use flowery words like coloration when the word color would work just dandy. Not that bi or semi is flowery but the point is that we are here to talk about how to become better communicators and although I appreciate the jokes, a bit of thoughtful reasoning is also appreciated.
Leonard
RE: biweekly
Hg
RE: biweekly
Leonard
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
RE: biweekly
In theory there's a nice tidy division of labor between "semi-" (twice per) and "bi-" (every two). "Biannual" messes it all up and provides a pressure to use the other "bi-" words where "semi-" should be. I don't have access right now to a good etymological dictionary; I'd love to see when "biannual" came into the language and if it was significantly before or after "biweekly" and "bimonthly".
Hg
RE: biweekly
BTW, in spanish we frequently use hebdomadal instead of weekly as for magazines. When the intention is once every two weeks we use quincenal (from quince=fifteen).
We also have bimensual for twice a month (twice-monthly) and bimestral for every two months (two-monthly).
RE: biweekly
Try typing etymology into Google. It will bring up an etymological dictionary. If you go there, let us know if this is a good one by your standards.
Maybe this is another reason that I never really got into horticulture. I could not quite aquire the knack of figuring out what was meant by 'ennial 'annual etc when prefixed with semi' bi' or 'ennial without the prefix. If you can't just say, "every six months" or whatever you really mean, I will try to avoid the communication by whatever means unless I am required to deal with it.
Horse Sense is something that horses have that keeps them from betting on people. It also keeps them from voting for people.
Leonard
RE: biweekly
Ed
RE: biweekly
In the UK, it was usually stated as, a quarter after twelve, half past three, a quarter to five.
RE: biweekly
I thought I answered metman way back, but I guess not. The etymological dictionary Google brings up is a good one for what it has, but it doesn't have the words in question.
Hg
RE: biweekly
Ed
RE: biweekly
Hg
RE: biweekly
John
RE: biweekly
Hg
RE: biweekly
There is such a thing (foxgloves, mullien, carrots) but they have a 2 year lifespan.
Annuals - sprout, grow, flower, set seed, and die all in one season
Biannuals - sprout and grow leaves the first year, shoot up a flower stalk, set seed and die the second.
Just to add to the confusion
RE: biweekly
A company where I used to work changed payroll from every two weeks (semiweekly?) to bimonthly (twice a month?). No, I got it backwards or was it the other way around? At any rate (well actually it was one rate and then another -- pay rate that is) my coworker did the math and convinced me that we were actually getting paid more even though our yearly salary "supposedly" stayed the same. It gets pretty tricky when you think about how our calendar is set up. Don't ask me to explain it because it hurts my head just thinking about it. Our comptroller was having no part of it as it would not look good on him but must have made his accounting easier.
RE: biweekly
104 times per year
or
26 times per year...
..prorated on a semiannual basis for perennial contracts
Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com
RE: biweekly