Scouting Report Updates

[Artoo_Detoo]

Hi all,

Sorry for the simple question, but in the game settings screen under scouting report updates, is bi-monthly twice a month or once every two months? Thanks.

[burning_phoneix]

I believe it is once every two months. Biweekly is twice a month.

[Artoo_Detoo]

Actually biweekly can be once every two weeks or twice a week, and bimonthly can be once every two months or twice a month. I think it's a pretty silly problem with the English language.

But thanks, now I know which it is.

[Curtis]

Semi-weekly/monthly/annually means twice a week/month/year. Bi-weekly/monthly/ennielly means every two weeks/months/years. Take a look at the roots: semi means 'half' and bi means 'two'.

The only people who use bi- to mean semi- are the same people who say 'hone in on' when they mean 'home in on'.

Interestingly, 'semi', 'demi' and 'hemi' all mean 'half' (which is why you shouldn't buy a truck with a hemi-engine, because of what use would half an engine be?). Since in musical notation a 'quaver' is an eighth note, a hemidemisemiquaver is a sixty-fourth note, which is the briefest note that music recognizes.

[Artoo_Detoo]

As much as this makes sense, it is not exclusively used, and using it both ways is grammatically correct as both definitions exist in the dictionary. I know because I've been frustrated by others using them both ways on me.

[Curtis]

So, I looked it up in Webster's New Unabridged Dictionary. In there it says that using bimonthly to mean twice a month is 'loose' usage. In that dictionary's terminology key 'loose' means it's not correct, but it's in common use.

To quote from the bimonthly entry: "Since it is not always clear which meaning of bimonthly is intended — 'twice a month' or 'every two months' — the use of semimonthly for 'twice a month' is preferable because it is unambiguous. Since there is no single, unambiguous term for 'every two months', this phrase itself is the least confusing to use."

In other words, it recommends that the word fall out of use entirely. Interesting.

[NoOne]

bi can be 2 or half... so it's reasonable assumption.

e.g. bisect - cut in half... results in 2... lol 1/2 and 2/1 are recipricols.. essentially mean the same thing only a matter of perspective! => 100% arbitrary.

it's not entirely wrong... just like that double negative is not grammatically incorrect in this context.

uniformity is good in a language for clarity... but never forget it is 100% made-up rules baed almost entirely on people's whims. it's arbitrary and all languages lack consistency/integrity. artsy people work in the language arts... so, it's not rational often. you can't expect "good" rules when it's all flakey and wishy-washy people making the rules.