Conference thebay::joyoflex

    G'day,
     A biennial is flower that flowers/lives for two years, is it not?
    
    
    According to the Macquarie Dictionary...
    
     semi means half
    bi means two, or double
    
    derek

>     semi means half
>    bi means two, or double

Sure, semi- means half, and semi-annual ought to (and usually does) mean
every half year.
Bi- means two or double, and bi-annual ought to mean every two years.
The confusion apparently comes from whether the prefix means "every
two of whatever you're measuring," or "twice in that time."
That the confusion doesn't extend to semi- ("half an event per year")
doesn't surprise me, since we don't often consider fractinoal events.

- tom]

>>	A colleague insists that the latter also 
>>	means `every half year'.  Is that so?

	Yes.

	"Biannual" means happening twice every year.
	"Biennial" means happening every two years.

    And because there is endless confusion, I suggest using "twice a year"
    or "every two years" instead.
    
    					andrew

>>    And because there is endless confusion, I suggest using "twice a year"
>>    or "every two years" instead.
    
	This reply qualifies you to join the firm of Eggers, Goldstein,
	and Sloane, in the event that such a collaboration occurs.

	Di

    I feel compelled to make the sociolinguistic observation that in these
    more tolerant times, bisexuals are "coming out" to others -- both
    outside and in the workplace.  We have, however, still to hear from
    any semisexuals.  :-)
    
    I do not, however, wish to speculate on what, if anything, these
    prefices imply (in this context) about frequency.    :-) :-)
    
    
    It goes without saying (save in these parlous times) that I am making
    no negative value judgments on bisexuality, and that I intend merely on
    playing with tokens -- and I hope not fire.
    

>>>    And because there is endless confusion, I suggest using "twice a year"
>>>    or "every two years" instead.
>    
>	This reply qualifies you to join the firm of Eggers, Goldstein,
>	and Sloane, in the event that such a collaboration occurs.
    
    That's not fair!  I'm not nearly as (can we say "anal" in this
    conference?) as those gentlemen!
    
    					{^% andrew %^}

    Re: .-1
    
    I'll ignore the Freudian comments.  (But there might be a hig-pig
    rejoinder!)  As for Bernie Goldstein, he SERPed.
    
    How about semi-trailers?  Anybody know what a bi-trailer might be?

    
   >> That's not fair!  I'm not nearly as (can we say "anal" in this
   >> conference?) as those gentlemen!
    
	True enough, Mr. Kenah.  Good answer/response.

	I was kidding, by the way.  Well - semi.
	Di

    G'day,
    

    >	I was kidding, by the way.  Well - semi.
    >	Di

    
    Not **THE** squidgy????
    
    
    ;-)
    
    Is a terrace house a Bi-detached house?
    
    dj
    

    Yeah, no negative value judgements on bisexuality -- the question is,
    was that a half-judgement or a double-judgement?  Actually I was going
    to ask, which half-gender is attractive to a bisexual person?
    
    As for who's not being anal, one might agree that the fixation seems
    to be on another box, but the behavior still appears rather [deleted].
    
    And as for the meaning of biweekly or biannual or whatever, in old
    English, it meant twice the root length of time, but in modern English,
    it means Read Speaker's Mind  :-(

  >>  Not **THE** squidgy????

    Sorry, the allusion is lost on me.  Duh, in advance.

    Diane
    

Squidgy is Princess Di's nickname.