Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 22, 2015
November 21, 2015
November 23, 2015
Transcript:
Luann: I want to get my mom a box of chocolates for Thanksgiving. Bernice: Perfect timing! It's the bi annual semi sweet sale! Luann: What's the difference between bi annual and semi? One's twice and one's every other, right? Bernice: Let's see....bi can mean both two and twice. Semi means half but can also mean twice. Luann: So is semi sweet chocolate half as sweet or twice as sweet? and half or twice of what? Regular chocolate? What's regular? Is semi sweet the same as bitter sweet? Luann: You know what? Forget chocolate. I'll just get my mom some toffee. Or is it taffy? what is the difference? Bernice: could you just get your mom a card or something?
Understandable, but wrong. When I was a periodicals clerk at the local public library, I knew that bi-annual meant every two years, bimonthly meant every two months, and biweekly meant every two weeks. Semi-monthly meant twice a month, and semi-annual meant twice a year.
Other people may use the words differently, but those are the standard, official meanings. When you process, and pay for, several hundred periodicals every year, you need to know what you’re talking about.
Ski magazine was published monthly during ski season, and bi-monthly (every two months) during the (Northern hemisphere) summer months.
Gentleman’s Quarterly was monthly. So was the Saturday Review. Go figure.