Bye-Bye Biweekly

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Leah Segal. I’m calling from Pittsburgh, but I’m originally from Dallas, Texas.

Hi, Leah. Welcome to the show.

So I was calling about a question that I had that I’ve encountered twice in recent days.

So first, it was a couple weeks ago where I moved into a new dorm situation with college.

And they let me know that there’d be a biweekly cleaning service.

And I at first I was like, oh, my gosh, twice a week they’re going to come into my house and like clean my house.

That’s a lot. Like, when are they coming in? I need to plan around this.

And I asked and I said, oh, no, we mean once every two weeks.

And I said, oh, OK, fine. Right.

And, you know, same thing happened.

I got I got a new job and they told me I’d be getting biweekly pay.

That does not mean I’m getting paid twice a week.

And at that point, I did think that, you know, I was like confused because I’m like, all right, well, this means obviously now once every two weeks.

But then when something happens bi-monthly, that’s also that’s twice a month that that happens.

Or when something happens biannually, I would think that that’s once every six months, so twice a year.

So I was wondering why then it’s not twice a week when you say bi-weekly.

Yeah, so when they told you the cleaners were coming biweekly, your heart went into your throat, right?

You’re like, I have to clean up for the cleaners twice a week?

No, no, no.

We’re not addressing the larger issue here.

Where are the dorms that have cleaning services?

That’s what I’m saying.

I know it was abroad.

What school did you go to?

I went to the wrong school.

That’s what I’m saying.

I know.

I was lucky.

It was also, yeah, I guess it was in Italy.

So that was the real joy of it.

Oh, goodness.

Oh, good. I imagine the cafe plan was amazing.

I know, exactly.

Cafeteria plan?

So, Leo, were they giving you these instructions in Italian or in English when they were telling you about the cleaning service?

They were telling me this in English.

And so initially, when I was confused and they corrected me, I thought, oh, maybe this is like a language barrier.

Maybe this is on me or maybe like whatever, some communication.

But then it happened again when I came back to America.

And so I said, wait a minute.

Well, you know, Leah, Grant and I are both really inclusive when it comes to language.

And I almost never say that a word should be banished from the language.

But I’m going to nominate biweekly because it causes so much confusion.

You know, in Britain, they say fortnightly, which makes sense, right?

Every fortnight.

I wouldn’t use the word banish, Martha.

Was that?

Let’s not use the word banish.

Let’s just say retire or rusticate or give it its justly reward, something like that.

I don’t know.

I think it needs to be convicted and sent away to prison because it has caused so much difficulty for so many people.

You know, if you show up for your biweekly meeting and then you realize nobody else is there or you think you’re going to get paid biweekly and you’re not.

Right.

But you’re right.

Fortnightly’s nice, right?

Or every other week or twice a month or semi-monthly or 26 times a year.

Oh, well, but even if they change it, I feel like people would still confuse it.

It’s like when you say get off at the next exit, you don’t know which exit you’re talking about.

I just think biweekly has caused so much trouble that I wouldn’t even touch it.

I don’t know. Grant may differ.

No, I agree generally.

Again, I don’t know about banish, but avoiding it is fine.

It’s as Brian Garner puts it, it’s skunked biweekly.

It’s just too problematic.

If you’re looking for clarity and not to have this conversation every time it’s used, just avoid using it.

And same for bi-monthly, frankly.

So if you mean every other week, say every other week or fortnightly or 26 times a year.

Right?

If you mean the other thing, say twice a week or 104 times a year or every Tuesday and Friday.

Just say whatever you mean without saying biweekly.

Yeah.

Way to be clearer about it.

Yes.

Yes.

It’s all about clarity.

And I always like to have a single word for some concept if it’s possible.

But I just don’t think it’s possible with this particular word.

So ostracize, send it into exile.

Vote it off the island.

I don’t know.

What do you think, Leah?

I think that it could be laid to rest.

Call us back sometime with another question, and maybe we can give you a fun answer.

Perfect.

Simply, I will.

Okay.

Well, thank you again.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Ciao.

Bye, Leah.

Ciao.

Bye-bye.

Call us early and often, 877-929-9673.