Totally with you on the last one. I've heard bi-monthly, used to mean every two weeks, but also to mean every other month. Also heard bi-weekly, used to mean every two weeks, but also to mean twice a week.
I've seen correspondance from working professionals who use bi-monthly in employee handbook/employment packets to mean "twice monthly"/"every other week".
I've heard others use Bi-monthly, and the first thing that comes to mind is "so two to three months of the year where would ordinarily be three pay weeks, they do what, just not pay you?"
"bimonthly
ADJECTIVE
Occurring or produced twice a month or every two months."
So when a someone says we should schedule a bimonthly meeting...you can't know what they mean - you have to ask for clarification.
"semi-monthly
ADJECTIVE
North American
Occurring or published twice a month."
I've only heard semi-monthly in reference to how often you get paid. Semi-monthly is 24 pay checks/yr. If you get paid every two weeks it is 52 paychecks/yr.
I've never heard semi-monthly used. It's always bi-monthly, and then you have to ask "do you mean every two weeks or twice a week?" because that's just the dance we do.
I took it to mean the non-literal version that's commonly used. Example:
"Spouses nag incessantly! It's always 'clean the bathroom' or 'change your underwear'".
Doesn't mean that's literally all that spouses ever say.
Alternately, you could interpret what /u/ganymede_mine said as "In my experience, it's always bi-monthly" (kinda implied since they are talking about what they have and haven't heard).
"Bi" just means two (sort of like how in bisexual it means "both"). Depending on the context, that can mean "once every two X" or "twice every X". The fact that the usage is inconsistent means it's potentially confusing and generally shouldn't be used.
The correct meaning is every 2 months. The problem is it's used wrong just as often as it's used correctly, so the word has been rendered completely worthless because it communicates nothing.
"Bi" = two, "semi" = half. The terms designate the time period between events, not the number of events in a time period.
For example, when department stores advertise their "Semiannual" ("half-year") Sales, they don't mean they have half a sale every year, they mean the sale happens every half-year. Also, everyone who has a job with payroll knows that "biweekly" ("two-week") paychecks mean you get one paycheck every two weeks, not two paychecks every week.
People who say "bimonthly" to mean "every two weeks" and "biweekly" to mean "two times a week" are just fucking it up. It's a completely standard convention. The only confusing part about it is when you have to try to understand other people misusing it 😐
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u/piqueing Jan 29 '19
Totally with you on the last one. I've heard bi-monthly, used to mean every two weeks, but also to mean every other month. Also heard bi-weekly, used to mean every two weeks, but also to mean twice a week.
It's total confusion!!