| 词组 | bi- |
| 释义 | bi- Dictionary editors receive a lot of letters about time words formed with the prefix bi-, especially bimonthly and biweekly. The typical letter writer is outraged or distressed that bimonthly, for example, may mean either "every two months" or "twice a month." Many of our correspondents accuse us of abdicating our responsibility by not setting things straight. The trouble is that it is much too late to set things straight. People have been using these words in two different meanings for quite some time, and now we all simply have to live with that fact. Perhaps the most irritating thing of all is that the writers who use these words almost always assume you know exactly what they mean. In the publishing world, for instance, everyone assumes you know bimonthly means "every two months." Only once in a while are you given a clue: • ... there will now be 6 issues a year. Each bimonthly issue will have 48 pages —Scouting, January-February 1970 On the other hand, we have evidence that in the world of education bimonthly usually means "twice a month"; a correspondent reports being confused by the publishing use when he was familiar only with "bimonthly examinations." And then we have this passage from a novel with an academic setting: • "Please listen," O'Connor said. "None of us has time to meet twice a week. The casebooks have grown like tapeworms. We simply have to get organized. I propose we shift to bi-monthly meetings." —John Jay Osborne, Jr., The Paper Chase, 1971 We find the same situation with biweekly. Writers assume that their meaning is your meaning: • ... turns in a bi-weekly column —Jerome J. Shes-tack, N.Y. Times, 26 June 1973 What's your guess? Twice a week? Every other week? The writer does not tell us. Here again the context helps us: • They are repaid by weekly, biweekly, or monthly payments —McKee Fisk & James C. Snapp, Applied Business Law., 8th ed., 1960 • ... is living in the house herself and giving bi-weekly square dances.... Many guests were told at the beginning of the season that they would be expected every Thursday and Sunday —Millie Considine, The Diplomat, April 1965 In a few cases there are contrasting words. For instance, we have biannual for "twice a year" and biennial for "every two years." But unfortunately biannual has sometimes been used to mean biennial. Here a solution is easy: skip biannual altogether and use in its place the common semiannual. Semiannual reminds us of one possible general solution: use a semi- compound for "twice a" and a bi- compound for "every two." Apparently many writers do so, for a majority of our citations for bimonthly, biweekly, etc. seem to be for "every two." The trouble is that there are just enough of the other uses to leave the reader uncertain. Another solution is to avoid the bi- compounds altogether and come right out with it: "twice a week" or "every other month." These words present a problem that you will have to decide how to deal with case by case. One very important consideration is that if you find yourself in a situation where only a bi- word will do, you should give your reader a contextual clue as to your intended meaning. |
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