The Biweekly Meeting

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and today I’m here to talk about a pesky word: biweekly. Recently, someone told me I needed to attend a biweekly meeting. We stared at each other blankly for a moment until clarification came: That’s every two weeks. And sure, this is one definition of “biweekly.” But the dictionary has two. And the other officially accepted definition is twice per week. So how do you know whether your meeting is once every two weeks or twice every one week? The answer: You don’t. So you should avoid this word altogether. Words that are their own opposites are called contranyms. “Biweekly” isn’t a perfect example of this, since two weeks isn’t necessarily the opposite of one. A true contranym is “enjoin,” which can mean ordering someone to do something or prohibiting them from doing it. Clarify or just discard these words. That’s your grammar minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.