# fifteen days



## estrella de mar

I was just wondering - in English we usually express two weeks as "a fortnight". I know that in France and in Spain they normally say "fifteen days". Why is this, when in reality two weeks only have 14 days?

Is this the same in other languages, or are we English the odd ones out?


----------



## Confused Linguist

I have never heard an American use the word *fortnight* in my entire life.


----------



## gotitadeleche

Confused Linguist said:
			
		

> I have never heard an American use the word *fortnight* in my entire life.



In the US it's an older term, not used much anymore.


----------



## Elibennet

Not even in "fortnightly magazine", for example?


----------



## estrella de mar

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> In the US it's an older term, not used much anymore.


 
it's extremely common here in the UK, and you can also use the term "fortnightly" to describe something which occurs every two weeks.


----------



## Confused Linguist

Elibennet said:
			
		

> Not even in "fortnightly magazine", for example?


 
Biweekly magazine


----------



## oxazol

15 days is really coming  from half a month. And when you split a month in weeks you have 4 weeks. -> half a month = 15 days = two weeks


----------



## estrella de mar

oxazol said:
			
		

> 15 days is really coming from half a month. And when you split a month in weeks you have 4 weeks. -> half a month = 15 days = two weeks


 
I see what you mean, but as the number of days in a month varies, but there are always seven days in a week, it seems more logical to say that there are fourteen days in two weeks. But I suppose it all depends on how you see it.


----------



## vince

Fortnight is not used in Canadian English

"I'll be coming in two weeks", not "I'll be coming in a fortnight".


----------



## Tatzingo

Confused Linguist said:
			
		

> Biweekly magazine



Surely you mean Bi-monthly? (every 2 weeks?)
Bi-weekly would suggest twice a week, would it not?

Tatz.


----------



## Etcetera

In Russian, we just say, 'two weeks'. 
If a magazine is issued every fortnight, they say it's issued 'two times a month'.


----------



## GenJen54

Tatzingo said:
			
		

> Surely you mean Bi-monthly? (every 2 weeks?)
> Bi-weekly would suggest twice a week, would it not?


 
Actually, that's a fallacy.  I believe, technically, the "bi" used to mean "every two xxx," but it has since made its way into the language to also take on the same meaning as "semi," hence adding to the confusion. 

Please see THIS and THIS as sample definitions.


----------



## Tatzingo

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> Actually, that's a fallacy.  I believe, technically, the "bi" used to mean "every two xxx," but it has since made its way into the language to also take on the same meaning as "semi," hence adding to the confusion.
> 
> Please see THIS and THIS as sample definitions.



Thanks for that. After consulting my dictionary, it seems that "bi-weekly" has both meanings,  i) every two weeks  and ii) twice a week.

Oh, and thanks for the links too! ;-)

Tatz.


----------



## fenixpollo

In Spanish, one week from today is expressed as "in 8 days" (de hoy en ocho); whereas in English, my concept of "one week" is the same as "7 days".

The closest concept of "fortnight" that I know is "quincena" (from "quince", or fifteen) in Mexican Spanish, which refers to the 15-day (2 week) pay period common in Mexico.

Just to corroborate vince, gotita and confused, "fortnight" is not used in AE.


----------



## Elibennet

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> In Spanish, one week from today is expressed as "in 8 days" (de hoy en ocho); whereas in English, my concept of "one week" is the same as "7 days".
> 
> Sorry, I don´t agree with this. We always say "in 7 days"
> 
> The closest concept of "fortnight" that I know is "quincena" (from "quince", or fifteen) in Mexican Spanish, which refers to the 15-day (2 week) pay period common in Mexico.
> 
> Just to corroborate vince, gotita and confused, "fortnight" is not used in AE.


"Fortnight" has its origin in "fourteen nights", which could be considered 15 days!


----------



## maxiogee

Elibennet said:
			
		

> "Fortnight" has its origin in "fourteen nights", which could be considered 15 days!





Only in the travel trade!


----------



## Bettie

Yeah, I remember I used to fight with my mom because of the "in 8 days" (de hoy en ocho) I couldn't understand the logic!! Then I got use to that.


----------



## fenixpollo

Elibennet said:
			
		

> fenixpollo said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Spanish, one week from today is expressed as "in 8 days" (de hoy en ocho)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry, I don´t agree with this. We always say "in 7 days"!
Click to expand...

 Maybe I should clarify: in Mexican Spanish, one week from today is de hoy en ocho.  It's interesting that in Argentina it would be expressed differently.  I didn't know that.


----------



## papillon

oxazol said:
			
		

> 15 days is really coming  from half a month. And when you split a month in weeks you have 4 weeks. -> half a month = 15 days = two weeks


I guess US president Bush would call this "Fuzzy math"!


----------



## Brioche

estrella de mar said:
			
		

> I was just wondering - in English we usually express two weeks as "a fortnight". I know that in France and in Spain they normally say "fifteen days". Why is this, when in reality two weeks only have 14 days?
> 
> Is this the same in other languages, or are we English the odd ones out?


 

Try using "inclusive counting".
*Sunday - 1st day*
Monday -2nd day
Tuesday -3rd day
Wednesday -4th day
Thursday -5th day
Friday -6th day
Saturday -7th day
*Sunday - 8th day*
Monday - 9th day
..
..
Saturday - 14th day
*Sunday - 15th day*

So next Sunday is the 8th day, and the following Sunday will be the 15th day.

So the French expressions "aujourd'hui en huit" and "aujourd'hui en quinze" make sense.

However, between the first and last Sundays there will be fourteen nights = fortnight.

Fortnight is alive and well in Australia. Nearly all salaried workers are paid fortnightly, and all pensions, allowances and benefits are paid fortnightly. (26 times a year).


----------



## Dandee

Brioche said:
			
		

> Try using "inclusive counting".
> *Sunday - 1st day*
> Monday -2nd day
> Tuesday -3rd day
> Wednesday -4th day
> Thursday -5th day
> Friday -6th day
> Saturday -7th day
> *Sunday - 8th day*
> Monday - 9th day
> ..
> ..
> Saturday - 14th day
> *Sunday - 15th day*


 
From *Sunday - 1st day *to Saturday -7th day you complete the seven day week. Why do you add *Sunday - 8th day?. *It corresponds to the next week, being the first day.

Regards.
Dandee.


----------



## maxiogee

Brioche said:
			
		

> Try using "inclusive counting".
> *Sunday - 1st day*
> Monday -2nd day
> Tuesday -3rd day
> Wednesday -4th day
> Thursday -5th day
> Friday -6th day
> Saturday -7th day
> *Sunday - 8th day*



By this reckoning, today is this day and tomorrow is in two days' time


----------



## Brioche

maxiogee said:
			
		

> By this reckoning, today is this day and tomorrow is in two days' time


 
That's pretty much the way the Romans did it.
By Roman reckoning, the 1st of May was the Kalends of May, the 30th of April was "the day before" [pridie] the Kalends, and the 29th of April was *3 days* before the Kalends of May.

Haven't you considered how Jesus died on Friday, and was raised up on* the third day*, namely Sunday?


----------



## maxiogee

Brioche said:
			
		

> Haven't you considered how Jesus died on Friday, and was raised up *on the* third day, namely Sunday?



I've re-worked the emphasis.

That's because Friday was the first day on which he was dead, Saturday was the second, and Sunday was the third. 

Without getting into a discussion of what is "death" - and accepting that at some point on the Sunday he was "alive" again, and that the absence of the body from the tomb was a proof of that - then technically he was not 'dead' for three days.
He died "at the ninth hour", if I recollect correctly, and the women went to the tomb early on the Sunday morning. Now, the "ninth hour" is usually interpreted as being nine hours after dawn - and is taken to mean three o'clock. So from nine hours after dawn on Friday to "early dawn" on Sunday is a nine hours short of TWO days, not to mention three days.

However, Christianity usually says things like "on the third day" - which is an accurate account of the details.

It is now 11 o'clock on Saturday morning.
We in English tend to refer to anything which will happen (at any time) tomorrow as being "a day away". Similarly, anything which will happen at any time on Monday is "two days away".
Next Saturday is seven days away — because there are not seven 24-hour periods between now and the beginning of next Saturday.


----------



## LV4-26

Brioche is right about the explanation of huit jours (eight days) in French.


> _Huit jours, _dans l'usage courant, une semaine entière en comptant le premier jour et le dernier.


_eight days_, in common usage, a whole week, counting the first day and the last one.
Inclusive counting indeed.

It's the same with intervals in music. From _do _to _sol _you have a fifth. You count both the_ do_ and the _sol_, and all the notes in between.


----------



## Kevman

How weird!

I had never thought of any of this before about two hours ago, when I saw a reference to a "fifteen-day" (δεκαπενθήμερο) in a Greek newspaper.

And now I find there just happens to be a whole thread going on about it!


----------



## DavyBCN

I have a very advanced group of Catalan/Spanish learners who had never heard the term until I used it a few months ago. Being British it is, of course, something I use all the time. Unfortunately they could not tell me why they use 15 days. We are on summer break and one of their tasks (not that they do any work over the summer!) is to tell me why when they return. Watch this space - but don't get too hopeful!


----------



## heidita

In German it is even weirder, if we may say so:

We say : Let's meet in 8 days!
meaning one week.

But :Let's meet in fourteen days! Two weeks. 

My Spanish husband just "explained": they say 15 days, because you include the day you are counting from, too. Not a very good explanation, if you ask me.


----------



## Dandee

Hello:
We use 15 days as an equivalent of two weeks because a generic month is 30 days. In this case 15 days is a generic fortnight too, because a real fortnight is 14 days, at least in this part of the world.

Dandee.


----------



## coconutpalm

We say two weeks. Fourteen days would sound/seem weird.
Half a month is ambiguous, just a general idea, not precise.


----------

