Biweekly vs semiweekly

When you say biweekly, does that mean twice a week or once every two weeks? What about semiweekly?

Many people, including writers, get confused with words starting with bi and semi. I don’t blame them, it is confusing! Luckily, there is a simple answer.

Biweekly means every two weeks.

Semiweekly means twice a week.

The same meaning is applied to bimonthly and semimonthly.

That’s simple, right? The unfortunate part is if our protagonist asks Mildred the dragon-cow to set up a biweekly meeting, Mildred might find herself wondering if our protagonist means the proper meaning of every two weeks or if they think it means twice a week. This is why I suggest when you use this word in your writing, clarify if it’s important to the plot. If Mildred sets up a semiweekly meeting and then gets frustrated when our protagonist doesn’t show up the second time, your reader might get confused.

To make matters even worse, biannual and semiannual both mean twice a year! Could English grammar please get its act together? If you want to say every two years, use biennial instead.

Perhaps Mildred should set up a semiweekly meeting to be held biennially?