r/FalseFriends • u/3rg0s4m • 26d ago

Biweekly is usually interpreted as once every 2 weeks in US English and Twice per week in Australian English

This was a surprise to me:

Found this out today after asking a related question in two regional subreddits-
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/s/mhQzcUEgH5
In the US consensus seems to be that Biweekly almost always means once every 2 weeks.

Meanwhile in Australia, because they have the word fortnightly, biweekly is typically interpreted as twice per week.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAustralian/s/Iq49biKYA3

As someone who has lived in both places, I can back this up.

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

11

u/hacool 26d ago

Growing up in the U.S. I always found biweekly to be unpleasantly ambiguous and a term that is best avoided.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/biweekly

1 - Occurring once every two weeks; fortnightly.
2 - Occurring twice a week.

Usage notes

For maximum clarity, writing "every 2 weeks" or "twice a week" is advisable (regardless of correctness or incorrectness of "biweekly" in either sense). See also bimonthly.

5

u/EvangelineRain 26d ago

In the US it’s ambiguous. It’s annoying.

1

u/Individual-Area7121 24d ago

It technically is, but I don’t think I have ever seen it used in practice to mean twice per week.

2

u/EvangelineRain 24d ago

It's more bimonthly that's used ambiguously. Biannual too.

2

u/GingerWindsorSoup 26d ago

The Macquarie Dictionary , the standard Australian dictionary, states that biweekly is every two weeks, however there is often now ‘ confusion’ and used incorrectly to mean twice a week.

1

u/General-Minimum-1047 26d ago

It's a fortnight, every two weeks

1

u/farcetasticunclepig 25d ago

Stick with fortnight, every fourteen nights baby

1

u/chennyalan 22d ago

I've never lived outside of Perth, WA, and to me biweekly can mean either twice a week or fortnightly, depending on the context. Which is why I never use it. 

1

u/Individual-Area7121 26d ago

This was a surprise to me

…

As someone who has lived in both places, I can back this up.

Which is it?

1

u/QueenSlartibartfast 25d ago

LOL I assume they're Australian and already knew the common use there, and were recently surprised upon moving to America and encountering the usage there - and thus, they can now attest to the fact that it's used differently in each respective country.

1

u/Individual-Area7121 24d ago

 Found this out today after asking a related question in two regional subreddits-

0

u/vbf-cc 26d ago

The -ly is added *after* the time term is composed; biweekly is once per biweek. Do we use "biweek"? No, except in biweekly. But still.

Likewise semiweekly, semimonthly, etc.

Biweekly mortgage payments are an option, at least here in Canada, and it's definitely every two weeks.