# What does "bi-weekly" mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380 "2015-10-11T23:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/41 "2015-10-12T20:23:00Z")
> [@simster](#): > > ythis x - the one that is immediately in front of you - > > next x - the one that is after that Except that this isn’t at all a universal rule. Q: When’s your birthday? A: Next month. Q: When are we discussing Johnson’s proposal? A: At the next board meeting. Q: When are you buying that new car? A: Next Tuesday. Only in the third situation would I consider the “next” to mean the Tuesday following the one immediately ahead. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/42 "2015-10-12T20:30:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Except that this isn’t at all a universal rule. > > Q: When’s your birthday? > A: Next month. > > Q: When are we discussing Johnson’s proposal? > A: At the next board meeting. > > Q: When are you buying that new car? > A: Next Tuesday. > > Only in the third situation would I consider the “next” to mean the Tuesday following the one immediately ahead. and this is why context matters - a) month is a long time - if it were tuesday, saying next tuesday is always the next one - therefore “next month” is always the immediate next month. b) also clear in context - since you’re waiting for the ‘immediate’ next one. c) to me is the oblique one - since presumably its not tuesday - “next” tuesday should mean the very next one, but depending on proximity to the immediate next one, may mean the one after. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/43 "2015-10-12T20:55:10Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > I thought that word was **“biennial”**. _Biannual_ would be twice within a single year. > > For the OP, I’d just reword the phrase so that it was less ambigious to whatever group I was addressing. Nope. As illustrated in my link to the IRS publication, twice a year is semiannual. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/44 "2015-10-12T21:11:40Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Nope. As illustrated in my link to the IRS publication, twice a year is semiannual. Meanwhile, google/dictionary says biannual can be used interchangeably, biennial means every two, and semiannual means twice in a single year. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/45 "2015-10-12T21:33:04Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > … your calendar has 13 months? Umm, yeah 12 months@30 days each=360 days The 13th month is five days long. Squeeze two paychecks in those five days and it would make a dent in the American tradition of spending a months pay you don’t actually have on Christmas gifts. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/46 "2015-10-13T02:25:48Z")
The semi/bi weekly team meeting used to be a running job at my last job because know one know if it was twice a week or every other week. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/47 "2015-10-13T03:19:11Z")
> [@simster](#): > > and this is why context matters - > > a) month is a long time - if it were tuesday, saying next tuesday is always the next one - therefore “next month” is always the immediate next month. > > b) also clear in context - since you’re waiting for the ‘immediate’ next one. > > c) to me is the oblique one - since presumably its not tuesday - “next” tuesday should mean the very next one, but depending on proximity to the immediate next one, may mean the one after. Next used to be the superlative of “nigh”. (As in, “God is nigh”.) Near was the comparative. So Nigh, near, next were parallel to Green, greener, greenest. Nigh is now obsolete, and near has taken its place, and nearer invented to fill the missing slot. So once upon a time, next Thursday would certainly have been the nearest Thursday (probably moving forward, since time is like that.) But hey, we also have “nearest”, now. So the meaning of “next” has drifted, and people often use it to mean not the nearest, but the one after that. But not always. This is still a change in progress. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/48 "2015-10-13T04:04:52Z")
It doesn’t mean dating a female one week, and a male the next? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/49 "2015-10-13T11:49:21Z")
I’ve had this problem at work. Some people refuse to accept that it can be confusing. I just say, explicitly, “two times per week” or “every other week” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/50 "2015-10-13T12:11:16Z")
> [@simster](#): > > and this is why context matters - Yes, obviously. The point I was making was that your ‘rules’ (this x, next x) don’t actually work as rules. Like just about everything else in English, there is no hard and fast rule for when “next” means the nearest one or the one after that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/51 "2015-10-13T12:43:48Z")
I’ve been making breakfast sandwiches lately using English muffins. A package lasts seven days, so I biweekly. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/52 "2015-10-13T13:24:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Yes, obviously. The point I was making was that your ‘rules’ (this x, next x) don’t actually work as rules. Like just about everything else in English, there is no hard and fast rule for when “next” means the nearest one or the one after that. well, more like guidelines really - I wasn’t trying to say “these are the rules”, but more so how I use and interpret the statements. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/53 "2015-10-13T15:50:32Z")
Twice a week. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/54 "2015-10-13T15:51:19Z")
Every other week. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/55 "2015-10-13T15:52:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It doesn’t mean dating a female one week, and a male the next? Post [#33](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18765550&postcount=33). Great minds…(and also snarky ones). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/56 "2015-10-14T02:25:44Z")
“Next Tuesday” is the Tuesday of next week but is said only after the Tuesday of the week before. If you say it on a Sunday, you say “this Tuesday.” On Mondays, you say “tomorrow.” Now you know. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/57 "2015-10-15T03:47:40Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Next Tuesday” is the Tuesday of next week but is said only after the Tuesday of the week before. If you say it on a Sunday, you say “this Tuesday.” On Mondays, you say “tomorrow.” > > Now you know. Today is Wednesday, October 14. How do you refer to Tuesday, October 20? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/58 "2015-10-15T03:49:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been making breakfast sandwiches lately using English muffins. A package lasts seven days, so I biweekly. But, do you Bayreuth? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/59 "2015-10-15T06:11:57Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Today is Wednesday, October 14. How do you refer to Tuesday, October 20? If I had a meeting I would say… I am meeting client on Tuesday. Or This coming Tuesday I am meeting client. If meeting was on 27th. I would say Next Tuesday I am meeting client. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380/60 "2015-10-15T07:09:15Z")
‘Bi-weekly’ means to me… It means I probably have to ask for clarification; “do you mean fortnightly, or twice-weekly?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bi-weekly-mean-to-you/734380.md?page=4)