# Bi-Monthly **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2026, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555 "2026-10-03T03:26:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/21 "2026-10-06T16:20:08Z")
Interesting. When I first started learning French (in the US), loanwords like “email” were the default even in the textbooks. Presumably the native French ones would have both, and explain what the “proper” term (_courriel_?) should be? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/22 "2026-10-06T16:39:42Z")
If you look it up in the official Academy dictionary, it does indeed say to prefer “courriel” to “mail”/“mél”, and this term may be officially obligatory or something in some institutions, but have you heard it in the wild? Seems like informal/abbreviated language, in any case, as opposed to writing out “courrier électronique”. Seems like small potatoes, anyway, compared to official acts like massive spelling reform, vocabulary/grammar reform, or changing the entire alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/23 "2026-10-06T17:03:17Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I’m a serials cataloging librarian, which means I create bibliographic records for serial publications–that’s things like magazines, journals, newspapers, and the like. So what does bi-bliographic mean? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/24 "2026-10-06T20:01:36Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > If you look it up in the official Academy dictionary, it does indeed say to prefer “courriel” to “mail”/“mél”, and this term may be officially obligatory or something in some institutions, but have you heard it in the wild? I’ve certainly seen “courriel” used in emails at my Canadian job. > External Email: Use caution with links and attachments. | Courriel externe: Faites preuve de prudence en ce qui a trait aux liens et aux pieces jointes. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/25 "2026-10-06T22:36:12Z")
Indeed, this appears to be a Canadian coinage. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/26 "2026-10-06T22:48:47Z")
i think I’ve seen courriel-e somewhere. It makes sense. But usage changes. When I was growing up (say 75 years ago) the word inflammable (i.e able to be inflamed) played the role that flammable does to-day. Non-inflammable was the negative. But it was confusing for people not aware of the meaning and—for good reason—it was replaced by flammable. Just use non-flammable, not inflammable, for the negation. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/27 "2026-10-07T01:10:27Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Non-inflammable was the negative Ooh, even more fun are [contronyms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#Examples) — words that mean their own opposites (during the same time period), like: > 1. _Cleave_ can mean “to cling” or “to split apart”.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-:2-3)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-:0-6) > 2. _Clip_ can mean “attach” or “cut off”.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-:2-3) > 3. _Drop_ can mean “release or make available” (e.g. a music record) or “abandon or discontinue”.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-7) > 4. _Dust_ can mean “to remove dust” (e.g. to clean a house) or “to add dust” (e.g. to dust a cake with powdered sugar).[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-:2-3)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym#cite_note-:0-6) I wonder what the prescriptivist take on those are… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/28 "2026-10-07T01:18:55Z")
Similarly, are shelled peanuts peanuts with shells on them, or peanuts from which the shells have been removed? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/29 "2026-10-07T02:12:06Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I wonder what the prescriptivist take on those are… Whichever sense is the oldest is the one to accept forever. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/30 "2026-10-07T02:33:17Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > _Dust_ can mean “to remove dust” (e.g. to clean a house) or “to add dust” (e.g. to dust a cake with powdered sugar). Amelia Bedelia missed that memo… ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/31 "2026-10-07T03:11:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The descriptivist position is the only position Is that a prescriptivist position? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/32 "2026-10-07T04:08:33Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > So what does bi-bliographic mean? Having to do with two books, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/33 "2026-10-07T04:18:03Z")
Does bibimbap then mean every two double mbaps? Inquiring minds must know. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/34 "2026-10-07T07:45:30Z")
Wrong. It means one book twice. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/35 "2026-10-07T16:49:58Z")
Doesn’t it mean half a book once? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/36 "2026-10-07T17:20:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The descriptivist position is the only position. If a large number of people mean the same thing when they say a particular word, then there’s no meaningful sense in which the word can be said to not “really” mean that. The only meaning words ever have is the meaning they’re intended to have by the people who use them. That saved me from writing all of that out. Thanks. In my industry, that word is used a lot - to mean twice a month. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/37 "2026-10-07T23:54:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This argument was shot, stabbed, poisoned, electrocuted, and disemboweled in 1961. OK. Let’s say it was “electrocuted” or “drowned”. The question then becomes… is it dead? Cuz folks be using these words different-like these days. Also-- re: the whole prescriptionist / descriptionist thing: how do we deal with two different people using two entirely different, or even opposite, meanings of a word? _“Yes, I said a black cat. And as you know, black is the color of fresh snowfall.”_ Nobody can ever be wrong about a word’s definition—it’s whatever you say it is–so that seems to lead to a lot of confunsion. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/38 "2026-10-08T00:33:17Z")
If a significant number of people started using “black” for “the color of fresh snowfall”, while others continued to use it for the color of coal, then yes, there would be a problem. But is that happening? And even if it were happening, would prescriptionism actually solve the problem? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/39 "2026-10-08T00:38:16Z")
The black/white thing was an extreme example to make my point but smaller examples are still problems. If I read that someone has drowned I don’t know if they are alive or not. I guess I can hunt for additional details… I guess I like it when you don’t have to do additional research just to find out what someone intends to say. If it’s all a free-for-all where we can define any word any way we want to I wish we could adopt words that are more useful and with less chance of misunderstandings. > [@Chronos](#): > > If a significant number of people started using “black” for “the color of fresh snowfall”, while others continued to use it for the color of coal, then yes, there would be a problem. But what happens when the two competing definitions are 50/50 on their usage distribution? Do you just ask every person which definition they mean? Seems to lose the whole point of using words to describe things. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555/40 "2026-10-08T00:43:07Z")
OK, but the question is still, would prescriptivism solve the problem? Even if I say that the people using “black” to mean “snow-colored” are wrong, it won’t stop them from doing so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bi-monthly/1033555.md?page=3)