Leah, a college student in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, asks: Does biweekly mean “twice a week” or “once every two weeks”? In British English, fortnightly specifies “once every two weeks.” But biweekly is what’s known as a skunked term, because it’s simply too confusing. A better choice is to opt to specify twice a week or twice a month, depending on what you mean. Ditto for bimonthly–just use more words to clarify exactly what you intend to say. This is part of a complete episode.
After an international team of scientists and staffers spent six months at a research station in Antarctica, their accents changed ever so slightly, according to an acoustic analysis by German researchers. The slang terms they shared include dingle...
Is the booty as in shake your booty related to a pirate’s booty? The booty that means “derriere” is an alteration of botty, which is itself an alteration of bottom. The booty that means “loot” or “plunder”...
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