no using the Internet to look this up

[Apollo81]

see poll

[pclayton]

Biannual is every other year. Semi-annual is twice a year.

[jdonn]

Is it just me or is this a trivially easy question?

[Trumpace]

Is it just me or is this a trivially easy question?

Depends on your answer :P

[jillybean]

Either, its a horrid word!

[han]

Once every two years.

[han]

OK the dictionary says twice a years but I don't think that's how the word is used.

[Apollo81]

Is it just me or is this a trivially easy question?

votes are 9-14-2 so far =)

[matmat]

depends on whether you consult a linguist or an ad agent.

[Apollo81]

OK the dictionary says twice a years but I don't think that's how the word is used.

Doesn't it say both? At least both dictionary.com and merriam-webster do

[kenberg]

I am pretty sure that someone who gets paid every two weeks is describes as "paid bi-weekly". Maybe this is wrong, but it is very common. If bi-weekly means every two weeks then bi-annually means, if there is any sense at all to it, every two years.

[Apollo81]

I am pretty sure that someone who gets paid every two weeks is describes as "paid bi-weekly". Maybe this is wrong, but it is very common. If bi-weekly means every two weeks then bi-annually means, if there is any sense at all to it, every two years.

 

The English language makes sense? =)

[Apollo81]

I am pretty sure that someone who gets paid every two weeks is describes as "paid bi-weekly". Maybe this is wrong, but it is very common. If bi-weekly means every two weeks then bi-annually means, if there is any sense at all to it, every two years.

 

The English language makes sense? =)

you'd also think "regardless" and "irregardless" would have different meanings by the same sort of logic, but....

[jtfanclub]

you'd also think "regardless" and "irregardless" would have different meanings by the same sort of logic, but....

No, regardless and irregardless should have the same meaning, just like flammable and inflammable and luminate and illuminate have the same meaning (il-, ir-, and in- are all the same prefix, which consonant depends on the next letter). Of course, by the same logic mutable and immutable should have the same meaning, logical and illogical....

[cherdano]

OK the dictionary says twice a years but I don't think that's how the word is used.

That's what I thought, too, but in a news.google.com search for "biannual" it was only used in the sense of "twice a year".

Of course my search will be statistically skewed, since there are more events occurring every 6 months than events occurring every 24 months, but probably our perception is also off. Since the context almost always makes it clear, it's not really necessary to know consciously what it means...

[jdonn]

This is the first time I can recall ever disagreeing with the dictionary. I have never heard this used as twice a year, and don't think it means that at all, and would consider that usage incorrect.

 

But I suppose the answer to my first post is: it's me.

[Hanoi5]

Wow, you really got me with this one. Apparently it means twice a year, while biennial happens once every two years.

[Apollo81]

Wow, you really got me with this one. Apparently it means twice a year, while biennial happens once every two years.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/biannual

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biannual

 

The above links claim it can mean either twice a year or once every two years.

[Apollo81]

This is the first time I can recall ever disagreeing with the dictionary. I have never heard this used as twice a year, and don't think it means that at all, and would consider that usage incorrect.

 

But I suppose the answer to my first post is: it's me.

 

Yeah I was quite surprised. Today I almost corrected someone's email for using it to mean "twice a year" but decided to check first. Good thing I looked.

[cherdano]

This is the first time I can recall ever disagreeing with the dictionary. I have never heard this used as twice a year, and don't think it means that at all, and would consider that usage incorrect.

Unless you never read or listen to any news, your claim is certainly wrong. It is interesting question why your brain (and that of many others, including mine) has such a bias in remembering the meanings of this word.

[blackshoe]

When I was growing up, half a century or so ago, I learned that "biannual" means every 2 years, and "semi-annual" means twice a year. If "biannual" can now have either meaning, then the language has changed.

[matmat]

hehe

 

so if i repeat something that is incorrect long enough and often enough, it will become correct. neat.

[jdonn]

hehe

 

so if i repeat something that is incorrect long enough and often enough, it will become correct. neat.

Well what is the definition of being correct? You could argue it's whatever the majority believes.

[blackshoe]

"Democracy is based on the idea that a million men are smarter than one man. How's that again? I think I missed something." -- Robert A. Heinlein, From the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

[Finch]

Biannual is every other year. Semi-annual is twice a year.

 

I always learnt that biannual is every other year and bienniel is twice a year. I corrected a document at work on that basis, and they then changed bienniel to "twice yearly". That's an international company for you...