Semi-fortnightly
The “biweekly” word is difficult. Does it mean “twice per week” or “every two weeks”? It’s an old chestnut, and generations have looked for an answer. I mustn’t call it the definition of ambiguity, because that’s not what it is, but it is a good example of it.
I gave some thought to the thing. Since we’ve already got a perfectly good word for “every two weeks” (“fortnightlyâ), I decided that “biweekly” must be used for all other situations, and to make that my recommendation. I felt jolly pleased with myself, and rightly so, right?
Well, no. Here’s Marco Arment in a footnote to a blog post about a podcast about sodding market analysis (my sentiment, not his, although I’ll admit that I listen to it too. Anyhow, it’s a fortnightly podcast):
By convention, âbiweeklyâ should mean âevery two weeksâ. Unfortunately, the bi- suffix has been misunderstood so frequently to mean âtwice perâ instead of âevery twoâ that âbiweeklyâ now uselessly means âevery two weeksâ or âtwice per weekâ.
The semi- prefix properly, and only, means âtwice perâ. Therefore, the correct word for âtwice per weekâ is âsemiweeklyâ. But since misunderstandings of this have ruined bi-, thereâs now no English word that unambiguously means âevery two weeksâ. (Except âfortnightlyâ, which is ridiculous.)
Iâm using âbiweeklyâ to properly mean âevery two weeksâ in protest of this widespread definition-shifting vocabularly ignorance.
OK, then.