'Bi' means two

English is a confusing language. We have a lot of words, those words can each mean a lot of different things, and context clues are used way more than the average native English speaker appreciates.

I get it. I do.

For example, the term 'bi-weekly' technically has two different meanings: twice per week or every two weeks. For a non-native English speaker who has lived on a commune for the entirety of his/her working life and never received a paycheck, I can see how this is a confusing topic.

For a woman who (based on her accent) was born and bred in Ohio and based on her work history had been working for the past twenty years, I don’t get how this could possibly be confusing.

And once again, I stand corrected. I eavesdropped on this conversation last week:

Bi-weekly (BW): Do we get paid weekly?

Coworker: You are paid every other week.

BW: So, every week?

Coworker: No, bi-weekly.

BW: Doesn't that mean every week?

Coworker: No. In this case, it means every other week.

BW: So, we get paid every Friday?

Coworker: (heaves a huge sigh) No. You get paid this Friday. You will not get paid next Friday. You will be paid the Friday after that. And so on, and so forth.

BW: So, every other week. Why didn't you just say that?

There are times when I wonder if people are either completely out of their minds, cannot follow their own train of thought and seriously don't remember what they initially said, OR they pull this shit just to piss us off. I have yet to decide...