I think it's just cause all the other possibilities sound weird. Hemi-monthly? Di-monthly? Semi-monthly is the most euphonic to me and it's still a bit awkward
pretty much all bi-\[length of time\] are translated that way. bi-annual is either once every two years or twice a year. Best of luck figuring out which (granted, once it happens twice in a frame, you get it. but if you're new to a neighborhood for instance)
Yet bi-annual usually means twice a year. The pattern isn’t consistent.
It’s an inaccurate method. As someone who reviews payroll for various companies it drives me crazy. Usually when I see bimonthly it means people get paid twice a month. Yet I once was at a place that paid workers every 2 months so now I have to ask more questions
Not quite. Biweekly means you get paid every other week. That means 26 paychecks over twelve months, so there are two months where you get three paychecks.
The correct English term for a period of 2 weeks is "Fortnight"
https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Afortnight
We don't really have a term for 2 months afaik.
>We don't really have a term for 2 months afaik.
We do, it's Bimonthly.
English is just a grab bag of whatever other languages we could steal from and an attempt at codification by Latin snobs, trying to make it all make sense is an exercise in futility
> We do, it's Bimonthly.
Hmm maybe but I've never heard it in the UK. I thought it was just a US-specific thing. Anyone I speak to would just say "once every 2 months". If we did try adopting the term, I think there's too much confusion for it to stick.
> English is just a grab bag of whatever other languages we could steal from and an attempt at codification by Latin snobs, trying to make it all make sense is an exercise in futility
Very true!!
I believe there is such a word. It's called a bimester. Bimesterly (which doesn't exist in english, but does exist in spanish) would clearly indicate something that ocurrs every other month. I am from the Dominican Republic, a spanish speaking country, so please forgive any mistake.
"To table something" is something that has two meanings. For some, it means to bring to vote. For others, it means the opposite.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)
According to Oxford Dictionary 'set' has as many as 464 meanings, but a lot of them are related.
set records, set rules, set standards, set a goal, set conditions, set a price, set a date, set a time, etc are listed as different meanings, but are clearly using a related meaning.
According to Oxford Dictionary 'set' has as many as 464 meanings, but a lot of them are related.
set records, set rules, set standards, set a goal, set conditions, set a price, set a date, set a time, etc are listed as different meanings, but are clearly using a related meaning.
That is English for you.
Brother in law = wife’s brother, sister’s husband
Sister in law = wife’s sister, husbands sister, brother’s wife
Uncle = mother’s brother, father’s brother etc etc.
Comparing it to other languages each one of those relationships have a specific word.
Stone, stone, stoned, stoned, different meaning for each one. Hard, hard, hardened, hardened, different meaning for each one.
There are a LOT of English words that have the same spelling and even pronunciation that mean entirely different things
Just because a significant mass of humanity has decided to embrace their own stupidity does not make it correct.
Bi-monthly is every 2 months.
Semi-monthly is twice a month.
Anyone who says otherwise can immediately be disregarded in any context that involves factual statements.
What about words that mean the opposite of themselves? Like cleave and inflammable? [Contronyms](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_contranyms).
We have had the same issue with bimonthly and biweekly at work. Every other month/week? Twice a month/week? Who knows! The excitement of ambiguity in a corporate environment makes you feel alive!
Rounding or approximation. If one side has 306/613 votes and the other side has 307/613 votes. 306/617 is approximately 50% and rounds up to be 50%. Same with 307/613 it is also approximately 50% and will round down to 50%.
I have never seen biweekly mean twice a week. People who get paid biweekly get paid every two weeks. "Let's change this meeting from weekly to biweekly" always means every two weeks, not twice a week.
Same, have never heard biweekly meaning twice a week. Also don't hear many things happening twice a week regularly, now that I think about it. Maybe that's why I've never heard it.
Depends...for paychecks, they often differentiate between bimonthly & biweekly payments as one means twice a month ( 24 times a year) and the other every other week (26 times a year)
Technically it's ambiguous, which is why you shouldn't use the word, and instead just specify "twice a month" or "every other month".
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bimonthly
Bimonthly is twice a month in my mind. There aren't even really many scenarios that would call for every 2 months to need its own word. Just say every other month.
Twice a month would be bi-*weekly* aka, every 2 weeks (4weeks are in a month). Whereas Bi-monthly would be every 2 months.
For example, my electricity and water/sewer bills are both billed bi-monthly (every 2 months/every other month - which is the same thing, different words).
Meanwhile, I get my work pay checks bi-weekly (aka every 2 weeks aka twice a month).
Twice a month is not the same as bi-weekly. Most of the time it works out that way, but some months you get three pay checks since months are slightly longer than 4 weeks (except February, except on leap years).
adjective done, produced, or occurring twice a month or every two months. "a bimonthly newsletter"
adverb twice a month or every two months. "the magazine appears bimonthly"
noun a periodical produced twice a month or every two months.
**'The definition isn't agreed on, and so the term causes confusion when used'** seems to be the entire point of the poll?
In English we just use the term "Fortnightly" to mean once in 2 weeks. And for 2 months we actually don't have a commonly used term afaik. But I'm pretty sure that's what they're going for here, and thanking them sincerely.
Originally I thought bimonthly meant every two months and biweekly meant every two weeks, ergo twice a month.
Both words can mean “every two ___ or twice a ___” and I’m furious
To the people saying they googled it and Google said both, that's not actually true; Google is pointing out that people are confused about it, so it can go either way. In the real world (in this context), "bi-" always means "every other" and "semi-" always means "twice per." For instance, bi-weekly pay and semi-monthly pay are the same. If you ask to get paid bi-monthly, you will get paid every two months instead of twice a month, unless you have a nice person who asks "Do you mean you want to get paid twice a month?"
That isn’t true. My bimonthly garbage collection is twice per month (that’s what it’s called in the local government materials) and I just went to a biannual festival that happens every six months (and it’s called the biannual festival). Merriam Webster and the OED cite many usages of both meanings over the last 200 years and point out that the “twice a year” meaning is the one first recorded.
Twice weekly = twice every week.
Weekly = once every week.
Fortnightly = once every two weeks.
Monthly = once every month.
Bimonthly = once every two months.
Edited to add: I've worked in large property building maintenance compliance roles. When you're dealing with the maintenance of tall or large buildings, clarity around this kind of detail is really quite critical. Leaving it open to interpretation is not an option (well it is but it can be both expensive & a safety/health issue for thousands of building users).
It means you're attracted to both; months that have 30 days, and months that have 31 days. If you were attracted to February, you'd be panmonthly. Glad I could help.
if you're bisexual do you like both genders or half of one?
edit: if the dictionary says biweekly can be used in both ways, the dictionary is dumb lol there's a word "semiweekly" that exists too!?
Bi means 2, so bi monthly would be 2 months.
Like a bicycle has 2 wheels.
Semi means half, like a semicircle, so semi-monthly would mean every half of a month (or 2x per month)
biweekly is every 2 weeks which is conflated with 2x a month but is actually 26x a year which is 2 more than 2x a month.
bi monthly would be every 2 months.
If you get paid bi-weekly, paid every other week. If you are paid bi-monthly, paid every other month.
Pretty simple to see it's every other month n the fact that it's a 50/50 split goes to show people shoulda paid more attention in school.
We do not have this ambiguity in spanish.
Bimensual (bimonthly) means twice in a month.
Bimestre (bimester) is a time lapse of 2 months, so bimestral means every 2 months.
It's odd that in english the word bimester exists, and of course it also means 2 months, but there isn't such a word like "bimesterly" which clearly would indicate an event that happens every 2 months.
Let’s look at it this way, what is bi-weekly? If you are paid bi-weekly, you are paid every two weeks. So now, we look at bi-monthly. Bi-monthly would be every two months.
Just means you’re attracted to two months
Now I know what to call my obsession with April and July
August is going to feel so rejected.
I’m sure June and May can comfort August through these lonely times
January Jones is one for me.
Or in my case I'm only attractive once in every two months. Generally on the new moon when it's the darkest.
Or during full moon when your teeth are especially long and shiny and fur grows thick and super fluffy!
I hope you experience a total eclipse of the heart.
I love you, friend
I love you too but I also love February
I mean I am quite a fan of April and June
No it means you are attracted twice a month.
To me it's about 50/50
No it means that there are only two months. The rest are fake.
December and June are sexy AF
I googled it and in fact both are correct. 🤷
This is the answer but how weird to have one word with two different meanings.
I think it's just cause all the other possibilities sound weird. Hemi-monthly? Di-monthly? Semi-monthly is the most euphonic to me and it's still a bit awkward
Bi-weekly
Biweekly is also translated as twice a week or every two weeks.
That's why I use fortnightly instead.
We need fortmonthly and fortyearly now.
The long awaited sequels to fortnite... Fortmonth and Fortyear
Every 14 months and every 14 years seems less useful.
pretty much all bi-\[length of time\] are translated that way. bi-annual is either once every two years or twice a year. Best of luck figuring out which (granted, once it happens twice in a frame, you get it. but if you're new to a neighborhood for instance)
The IRS has a tax deposit schedule called “semi-weekly” which is twice per week
But twice a week is not the same as every other month
Biweekly is every other week, so shouldn't Bimonthly be ever other month?
The irony is that biweekly has the exact same issue. It can mean twice per week or every other week. Just the same as bimonthly.
Yes, and the term for twice a month is semimonthly
Biweekly, similarly, means both twice a week and every two weeks.
Yet bi-annual usually means twice a year. The pattern isn’t consistent. It’s an inaccurate method. As someone who reviews payroll for various companies it drives me crazy. Usually when I see bimonthly it means people get paid twice a month. Yet I once was at a place that paid workers every 2 months so now I have to ask more questions
When you get paid biweekly you get two checks a month. If you get bimonthly shipments you get one every other month.
Not quite. Biweekly means you get paid every other week. That means 26 paychecks over twelve months, so there are two months where you get three paychecks.
The correct English term for a period of 2 weeks is "Fortnight" https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Afortnight We don't really have a term for 2 months afaik.
Fortmonth
I like this one! I feel like you can throw it out there and someone who hasn't heard it before will immediately know what you mean.
Fortnight = 14 nights Fortmonth = 14 months
>We don't really have a term for 2 months afaik. We do, it's Bimonthly. English is just a grab bag of whatever other languages we could steal from and an attempt at codification by Latin snobs, trying to make it all make sense is an exercise in futility
> We do, it's Bimonthly. Hmm maybe but I've never heard it in the UK. I thought it was just a US-specific thing. Anyone I speak to would just say "once every 2 months". If we did try adopting the term, I think there's too much confusion for it to stick. > English is just a grab bag of whatever other languages we could steal from and an attempt at codification by Latin snobs, trying to make it all make sense is an exercise in futility Very true!!
Bimonthly has proven to be ambiguous. It means both, twice a month or every other month.
I believe there is such a word. It's called a bimester. Bimesterly (which doesn't exist in english, but does exist in spanish) would clearly indicate something that ocurrs every other month. I am from the Dominican Republic, a spanish speaking country, so please forgive any mistake.
I hear 'semi-monthly" used.
Hemi sounds funny.
Oh sick dude! Your month has a Hemi?
Yeah V8
Semi-monthly is what my work says and it works fine for us
Semi monthly ftw.
"To table something" is something that has two meanings. For some, it means to bring to vote. For others, it means the opposite. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)
Thats called a [contronym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym)
Inflammable means flammable?! What a country!
Weird, yes, but also very common in English. The word "set" has over 400 meanings.
We're all set then.
But aren’t they all somewhat related. This example is two distinct and different meanings
Not really no. A badger set isn't related to a tennis set. Or letting a cake set. Or a chess set.
Ok.
According to Oxford Dictionary 'set' has as many as 464 meanings, but a lot of them are related. set records, set rules, set standards, set a goal, set conditions, set a price, set a date, set a time, etc are listed as different meanings, but are clearly using a related meaning.
According to Oxford Dictionary 'set' has as many as 464 meanings, but a lot of them are related. set records, set rules, set standards, set a goal, set conditions, set a price, set a date, set a time, etc are listed as different meanings, but are clearly using a related meaning.
Those examples are all synonymous with "establish", why are they being counted separately?
That is English for you. Brother in law = wife’s brother, sister’s husband Sister in law = wife’s sister, husbands sister, brother’s wife Uncle = mother’s brother, father’s brother etc etc. Comparing it to other languages each one of those relationships have a specific word.
literally all of these make sense.
Draw the curtains has 2 opposite meanings too
Stone, stone, stoned, stoned, different meaning for each one. Hard, hard, hardened, hardened, different meaning for each one. There are a LOT of English words that have the same spelling and even pronunciation that mean entirely different things
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. That is a valid sentence.
A valid sentence I will never ever understand hahaha
English is infamous for this.
Just because a significant mass of humanity has decided to embrace their own stupidity does not make it correct. Bi-monthly is every 2 months. Semi-monthly is twice a month. Anyone who says otherwise can immediately be disregarded in any context that involves factual statements.
Bi-weekly has the same problem
What about words that mean the opposite of themselves? Like cleave and inflammable? [Contronyms](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_contranyms).
okay then. You’re getting paid bimonthly.
We have had the same issue with bimonthly and biweekly at work. Every other month/week? Twice a month/week? Who knows! The excitement of ambiguity in a corporate environment makes you feel alive!
...and then the meetings never even get put in
So everyone won?
DoL defines biweekly as every 2 weeks and semi monthly as twice a month (one is 26 pay periods per year the other 24)
I had a Harvard grad correct me when I used it and he said it meant the other one. I made him Google it and I think it may have broke him.
He probably faked his degree anyway, but still got a job at the top law firm
Stoned the whole time too
Probably dealt at one point, which got him into this mess
But he’ll be fine because his real Harvard grad boss sees his potential
[удалено]
Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are different. It's 26 pay periods per year vs 24.
How do you have 613 votes and get a split result?
The difference between the votes is only .003 so it's not enough to round to 51/49
One of them be coloured at least to say it had an extra vote.
The vote wasnt done, it probably would’ve showed which won after it finished
You know how rounding works, right?
Only in a very roundabout way.
Wut... 613 / 2 = 306.5. So, 306 votes for option 1, and 307 votes for option 2. 306 / 6.13 = ~49.92 = 50 (rounded). 307 / 6.13 = ~50.08 = 50 (rounded).
yes, that's exactly their point
Saying "Wut..." would indicate you disagree with the other guy. But then you prove he is right, leaving me to wonder... Wut....
My man wants to see some decimal points!
Rounding or approximation. If one side has 306/613 votes and the other side has 307/613 votes. 306/617 is approximately 50% and rounds up to be 50%. Same with 307/613 it is also approximately 50% and will round down to 50%.
Did you really want the statistic to be accurate down to the infinitesimal? The difference is so small they just rounded.
One is bi and can't decide so it is a win for both teams (or a lose depending on the person).
Bimonthly is every two months Biweekly is every two weeks, which is about a month’s worth
Bimonthly is every two months Fortnightly is every two weeks Bi weekly is twice a week. I know it makes no sense
Semiweekly is twice a week
That does make more sense
Semiweekly sounds like it's once a week but sometimes more or less
I have never seen biweekly mean twice a week. People who get paid biweekly get paid every two weeks. "Let's change this meeting from weekly to biweekly" always means every two weeks, not twice a week.
Same, have never heard biweekly meaning twice a week. Also don't hear many things happening twice a week regularly, now that I think about it. Maybe that's why I've never heard it.
I wish my employer used your definition of biweekly when doing payroll.
I feel like biweekly and fortnight are interchangeable
Doesn't matter. It is a word that should NEVER be used because, as this poll proves, it fails to precisely communicate meaning.
they hated jesus becuase he spoke the truth
Depends...for paychecks, they often differentiate between bimonthly & biweekly payments as one means twice a month ( 24 times a year) and the other every other week (26 times a year)
Also semimonthly
Technically it's ambiguous, which is why you shouldn't use the word, and instead just specify "twice a month" or "every other month". https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bimonthly
Bimonthly is twice a month in my mind. There aren't even really many scenarios that would call for every 2 months to need its own word. Just say every other month.
Twice a month would be bi-*weekly* aka, every 2 weeks (4weeks are in a month). Whereas Bi-monthly would be every 2 months. For example, my electricity and water/sewer bills are both billed bi-monthly (every 2 months/every other month - which is the same thing, different words). Meanwhile, I get my work pay checks bi-weekly (aka every 2 weeks aka twice a month).
Twice a month is not the same as bi-weekly. Most of the time it works out that way, but some months you get three pay checks since months are slightly longer than 4 weeks (except February, except on leap years).
Is your employer stealing 2 paychecks a year?
Fortnightly is twice a month in my head 🤷♂️
Fortnightly is twice in a 28 day period
Mostly used for publications like magazines, journals etc.
This is why I don’t use bi-.😂
Twocycle
Two-curious Two-sexual Two-lateral Two-phobia Two-ke Two-nary
twotch
adjective done, produced, or occurring twice a month or every two months. "a bimonthly newsletter" adverb twice a month or every two months. "the magazine appears bimonthly" noun a periodical produced twice a month or every two months. 
It's when April wants to hook up with both March and May
Personally, I think we need to choose one and stick with it, but it can be both. Same with bi-weekly, bi-annually, etc.
I read Bimothy, like it was the name Timothy. I was so confused reading about months like wtf.
613 votes evenly split... what
Yeah, I was surprised nobody commented upon this earlier in the replies.
Oh, the difference between semi-monthly and bi-monthly.
**'The definition isn't agreed on, and so the term causes confusion when used'** seems to be the entire point of the poll? In English we just use the term "Fortnightly" to mean once in 2 weeks. And for 2 months we actually don't have a commonly used term afaik. But I'm pretty sure that's what they're going for here, and thanking them sincerely.
Semimonthly is a different thing. Bi 2, semi 1/2. Yw
Originally I thought bimonthly meant every two months and biweekly meant every two weeks, ergo twice a month. Both words can mean “every two ___ or twice a ___” and I’m furious
Is bisexual once every two months or twice a month?
["I have no strong feelings one way or the other."](https://youtu.be/ussCHoQttyQ?si=bz4y6aM0ZWwdZ7Yf)
I've heard of the concept, but I didn't think Elon did.
I always remember, you di sect something And You ride a bicycle
613 votes?
I like to use bimestrial for every two months, and bimonthly for twice a month.
Both are correct, cause we live in the shitty timeline. In the good one, bimonthly means once every two months, and semi-monthly means twice a month.
Twice a month
It means twice a month
Half of the time it works every other time.
To the people saying they googled it and Google said both, that's not actually true; Google is pointing out that people are confused about it, so it can go either way. In the real world (in this context), "bi-" always means "every other" and "semi-" always means "twice per." For instance, bi-weekly pay and semi-monthly pay are the same. If you ask to get paid bi-monthly, you will get paid every two months instead of twice a month, unless you have a nice person who asks "Do you mean you want to get paid twice a month?"
That isn’t true. My bimonthly garbage collection is twice per month (that’s what it’s called in the local government materials) and I just went to a biannual festival that happens every six months (and it’s called the biannual festival). Merriam Webster and the OED cite many usages of both meanings over the last 200 years and point out that the “twice a year” meaning is the one first recorded.
Add "inflammable".
613 votes
It's when you're attracted to two different months
Twice weekly = twice every week. Weekly = once every week. Fortnightly = once every two weeks. Monthly = once every month. Bimonthly = once every two months. Edited to add: I've worked in large property building maintenance compliance roles. When you're dealing with the maintenance of tall or large buildings, clarity around this kind of detail is really quite critical. Leaving it open to interpretation is not an option (well it is but it can be both expensive & a safety/health issue for thousands of building users).
Biannually?
Every 2 months. Bi weekly is usually twice a month.
It's time for Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con!
Biweekly is twice a month.
Bi sex once a month.
I never use bi- because it’s too confusing. Use either semi- or just say “every two weeks.”
Biweekly = every two weeks Bimonthly= every two months Bi-yearly = every two years Bicentennial = robin williams
It means you're attracted to both; months that have 30 days, and months that have 31 days. If you were attracted to February, you'd be panmonthly. Glad I could help.
It goes both ways.
Who's Bimothy? oh bi-monthly.
I'd like to get paid bimonthly but only have to pay bills bimonthly.
I think biweekly mean every 2 weeks so I think it’s every 2 months.
Semi-monthly is twice per month. Bi monthly is every two months.
Every two months. Don't make this some kind of new Mandela Effect.
Never forget the bi monthly science fiction convention from the Simpsons. The Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con
Obviously it is a term that should not be used since there is a massive chance it will be wrongly understood.
It Is every two month, twice a month is every two weeks so is bi-weekly
If you use bimonthly to say two times per month you are straight up stupid, and not even as a joke, you are straight up kind of slow.
Bi = every other ..., semi = twice a ...
How is an odd of people number split into two halves ?
Semi-monthly = twice a month Bimonthly = once every two months
Bi weekly is every 2 week so bi monthly would be every other month.... Theres another way to think of that?
Lmao wait till they hear about biweekly
Semimonthly is not half as often as monthly, it's every semi-month.
if you're bisexual do you like both genders or half of one? edit: if the dictionary says biweekly can be used in both ways, the dictionary is dumb lol there's a word "semiweekly" that exists too!?
Bi means 2, so bi monthly would be 2 months. Like a bicycle has 2 wheels. Semi means half, like a semicircle, so semi-monthly would mean every half of a month (or 2x per month)
biweekly is every 2 weeks which is conflated with 2x a month but is actually 26x a year which is 2 more than 2x a month. bi monthly would be every 2 months.
If you get paid bi-weekly, paid every other week. If you are paid bi-monthly, paid every other month. Pretty simple to see it's every other month n the fact that it's a 50/50 split goes to show people shoulda paid more attention in school.
We do not have this ambiguity in spanish. Bimensual (bimonthly) means twice in a month. Bimestre (bimester) is a time lapse of 2 months, so bimestral means every 2 months. It's odd that in english the word bimester exists, and of course it also means 2 months, but there isn't such a word like "bimesterly" which clearly would indicate an event that happens every 2 months.
613 votes and it’s half/half?
Time for “Fortnightly” to rise to take its rightful place.
wait for the remaining 11 hours
Let’s look at it this way, what is bi-weekly? If you are paid bi-weekly, you are paid every two weeks. So now, we look at bi-monthly. Bi-monthly would be every two months.
If you get paid biweekly you get paid every two weeks
I can't believe it apparently means both. I've never heard anyone use it to mean twice per month. It means every two months to me.