If language operated on that principle, rather than the principle stated in the first paragraph of this answer, words and particular senses of words would not fall out of, then return to, common use. The adjective and adverb ‘minutely’, in the given sense, is described variously by dictionaries. In OED entries from the Third Edition, updated March, 2002, the word is described as « rare ». It is given two out of eight for the adjective frequency, three of eight for the adverb, both in contrast to four of eight for the adverb in the sense of « on a small scale ». In Collins, the word frequency is given as two out of five, exactly the same frequency shown for ‘minutely’ in the sense of « done in great detail ». American Heritage (online) does not define the adjective or adverb in the given sense.
Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic. Before a suffix starting in a vowel, -y pronounced /j/ usually remains. Only one exception that I can think of, highlighted below. Before a suffix consisting of only one consonant, -y pronounced /j/ generally remains. After such a y, the past and past participle suffix is -ed (with the e), but the present suffix is -s with no e.
Is there any difference between « monthly average » and « average per month »? closed
There are unattested attributions on the web to some or other never-named World War II Japanese naval commander. But such a tale could have been spun by one sailor and then popularized through the ranks, eventually making its way into print and vernacular usage. On (the) average, I spend $250 per month on gas heating. My electricity bill is about $250 per month, on (the) average. It can easily be observed, though, that words themselves as well as particular senses of words do fall out of then return to more frequent use.
Dictionary.com (based on Random House Unabridged) makes no observation about the frequency of use. A cartoon captioned … and all liberty is canceled until morale improves appears even further back in All Hands, a magazine published by the U.S. A (not the) « correct » word for « happening every minute » is ‘minutely’. In both US and British English, the word is pronounced /ˈmɪnᵻtli/, where /ɪ/ is the vowel sound in ‘kit’, « ᵻ represents free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/ », and /i/ represents the vowel sound at the end of ‘happy’ (OED).
Yet the semantics of ‘minutely’ (/ˈmɪnᵻtli/) are not archaic, nor is the form; the only remaining potential dimension of archaism is chronological, in that it may be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as having been used more commonly in the past than it is used now. There remains a question of whether, supposing that ‘minutely’ in the sense of « minute-to-minute » is perceived as archaic, that perception is sufficient reason not to use the word in that sense. The logic against such use may be circular and so not compelling. For example, the logic may be that because ‘minutely’ is less used now than it was in the past, it should be used less now and in the future.
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Since I was getting a bit caught up in trying to write out some fairly complex things in comments to @medica’s answer, I am going to write it all out in a full answer here.
- Well of course the phrase was frequently repeated in jest in the Navy at that time—it kept showing up every five years or so in All Hands.
- Twice-daily is probably the best choice since it is unambiguous and commonly used.
- It is given two out of eight for the adjective frequency, three of eight for the adverb, both in contrast to four of eight for the adverb in the sense of « on a small scale ».
- What is ‘better’ may be more efficient, more accurate, more pleasing, or in some other way ‘better’.
- But such a tale could have been spun by one sailor and then popularized through the ranks, eventually making its way into print and vernacular usage.
bi-daily, bidaily or twice-daily? closed
Got a good vocabulary from reading, maybe a bit sheltered as far as « the vernacular of the peasantry » (a line of the Wizard of Oz’ no-doubt self-professed Professor Marvel, aka the wizard). It literally means « something that is good for your constitution », usually a walk, but it’s also a common euphemism for the first visit to the washroom, particularly in areas where heading out to use the facilities is not a very distant memory. It was much more common in my youth (and it’s been a while since I was a youth) among older people, and it seemed to carry a bit of feigned poshness among the working class (who didn’t need to go for a purposeless walk to get their exercise). When you combine a final -y with a suffix, you have to look at each combination of the seven options mentioned above separately (though some of them can be lumped together, of course). Per a T-shirt seen at Fort Madison IA in reference to a commander of the Fort during the war of 1812. Well of course the phrase was frequently repeated in jest in the Navy at that time—it kept showing up every five years or so in All Hands.
Answers
Before a suffix starting in a consonant or non-/i/ vowel, -y pronounced /ai/ generally remains in monosyllabics, though there are some individual exceptions where a variant spelling with -i- also exists. Average per month » or (« average monthly ») and « monthly average » (or « monthly mean ») have different meanings. OED, in the entries updated in 2002, attests adverbial use of ‘minutely’ in the given sense as recently as 1962, and adjectival use as recently as 1994.
Prior to that, the predominant meaning would have been morality. As such, I think the attribution to Captain Bligh of the Bounty is probably apocryphal, especially as there appears to be no such direct quotation from him or from the mutineers, even in their Hollywood adaptations. The sentiment is surely as timeless a grumble as any. Pour encourager les autres, borrowed from Voltaire, is used often enough to find its way into dictionaries (e.g. MW, OLD). Taken literally, it would map more closely to the meaning of make an example of someone to use a modern idiom.
I have not found a copy of the 1960 edition, but an intermediate edition from 1954 does not include any mention of the expression, despite referring to « morale » on four separate occasions. The is no real evidence to support the more commonly cited origins, that is Captain Bligh and the Mutiny on the Bounty, and the commander of the Submarine Force of the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II. The best you can do is « alternate day. » An alternate day questionnaire is a questionnaire that appears every other day.
Candide (1759), however, is a work of satire, and the phrase is used ironically. The use of ‘minutely’ in the sense of « minute-to-minute » or « minute-by-minute » may well be a general use « for special purposes », for example, technical purposes. Any word or even non-word that communicates what you intend to the people who read it or hear it, may suffice. Within that broad stroke, the details are that some words may communicate ‘better’ in some way. What is ‘better’ may be more efficient, more accurate, more pleasing, or in some other way ‘better’. I’d need this word to very concisely describe a questionnaire by its issuing frequency.
- The best you can do is « alternate day. » An alternate day questionnaire is a questionnaire that appears every other day.
- The logic against such use may be circular and so not compelling.
- The sentiment is surely as timeless a grumble as any.
What you are looking for is « minute by minute », « once daily fx economic calendar a minute », « on a minute-by-minute basis » (thanks to Shinto Sherlock for setting the record straight on this one), or simply « every minute ». Twice-daily is probably the best choice since it is unambiguous and commonly used. Using either bidaily or bi-daily risks the reader getting muddled between « twice a day » and « every other day ». So where dæglic became daily (the final k became i), dæg became day.
In the past and past participle forms of some irregular verbs, the y changes to -i-, and the suffix, whether -(e)d or -(e)n, never has an e. As it is normally pronunciation that defines spelling, and not the other way around, it seems that the i did the job of representing that j in daily quite well. However, as a final vowel, the i seems to be uncommon in English, and usually written as a y. Contrarily, in the fast food restaurant that has an unusually high churn factor and suffers from low morale and low pay, this is where you find posters hanging on the office walls saying, « Beatings will continue until morale improves! » But more on service cultures later. Morale in the sense of one’s confidence and good emotional state is attested only from the early 19th century, according to the OED.
Other influences than the presence or absence of archaism affect that process. The abbreviation QOD or QAD (from Latin mean Quaque Alternis Die ») means ‘every other day’ or ‘every two days’. I agree with @Vitamin C that frequency is better, but recognize that another category is needed in your list of options, too, such as « as needed » or « irregular. »
It seems very likely that humorous/sardonic expressions of the form « a punishment will continue until morale improves » originated in the U.S. Navy in the form « all liberty is canceled until morale improves. » The first recorded instance that various book and periodical database searches turn up is from a cartoon caption in 1961, although the cartoonist may simply have been repeating a witticism already in circulation. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. That none of the four dictionaries consulted describe ‘minutely’ as archaic, in the sense of « minute-to-minute » or « minute-by-minute », is not in itself a conclusive answer to the question of whether it is archaic or not. My observation, however, is that ‘minutely’ is not archaic, or if it is archaic, it is not primarily so. Rather the word is infrequently used, and may be perceived as « belonging to an earlier period ».
Further, it does not take much searching to uncover technical uses of ‘minutely’ in the given sense in 2018; for example, a search using Google Scholar to find instances of ‘minutely data’ returns 2490 results from 2018 as of today (31aug2018). Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. « And all liberty is canceled until morale improves. » « … and all liberty is canceled until morale improves. » « monthly average » is better used for « exchange rates », « temperatures », « rain and snowfall », prices, etc.
Phonetic makeup of suffixes
Is there an adjective that means « every other day »? I found « bidaily » but it seems to mean « twice a day », not « every second day » (not even both as « biweekly » does). I remember to have come across it once in a story by Somerset Maugham.
In both cases the g got to be pronounced as j, but instead of dai, hai or gai, the use of y was preferred to write that sound in a final position. A desk sign currently on the market to brighten your day reads, « Firings will continue until morale improves. » The philosophy seems to work. One hundred forty-eight workers at Vepco’s Mt. Storm, West Virginia plant are still on the job despite the selective firing of forty of their brothers. The words « no leave until morale improves » have been underlined by the person who sent this excerpt to the Dartmouth Free Press. Steelworker 1 & C was published in three major editions—in 1950, 1960, and 1966—as well as with minor updates in other years.
