Talk:Fortnight

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Contents 1 Arabic 2 Not archaic 3 Effective usage 4 Blocking Users 5 Unusual usages 6 Linking to countries

[edit] Arabic

Can we get a transliteration of the arabic phrase? --82.143.195.118 (talk) 12:07, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I have given better explanation of the Arabic term. Please check! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Libyansamarkand (talk • contribs) 13:06, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Not archaic

I removed the part saying it's archaic. If it's used in the rest of the English speaking world (including England), then it's not archaic. Wdywtk (talk) 06:21, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

British measure of time, corresponding to a period of two weeks. Although in common use in UK, Americans have usually no idea what it is.

removed the above for US-bias. what about NZ, Aus, Canada, do they use it or not? -- Tarquin 19:42 Jan 23, 2003 (UTC)

Well, VMS had its microfortnight, but otherwise it is pretty rare. That said, lots of Americans certainly know what it means. While sneering at Americans and our sloppy measurements, keep in mind that for many of us, semi-weekly and semi-monthly are synonyms. In Spanish, "fortnight" is until 15 days and "in a week" is after 8 days. Ortolan88

yup, in French, we say "quinze jours" for two weeks. "8 days" for a week is sometimes said in the UK; some French speakers say it too. -- Tarquin 20:31 Jan 23, 2003 (UTC)

I'm British, and have never in my life heard "8 days" used to mean "a week" (unless you count a certain Beatles song!); I'm not saying that usage doesn't exist, but if it does then it's very rare indeed. Loganberry (Talk) 00:26, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

... and orto, I wasn't sneering. The phrase "Americans have usually no idea what it is" implies a US audience; otherwise it would have to make a similar statement for all other english-speaking countries. -- t

The term fortnight' is used in Australia, yes. MinorEdit 02:47, July 31, 2005 (UTC)

More or less like in France, in Italy we say "quindici giorni" (15 days) and we mean two weeks. We also have the term "Quindicinale" that means both "every two weeks" and "twice a month".

_________"Millifortnights (about 20 minutes) and nanofortnights (1.2096 milliseconds) have also been used occasionally in computer science, usually in an attempt to be deliberately over-complex and obscure." ??? This really has sense?

[edit] Effective usage

That paragraph considering the payroll customs in United States should be deleted, as the article is about the term "fortnight" and not "whatever happens in a 2 weeks term". Furthermore the article clearly says that the term is uncommon in the US, so US traditions shouldn't play much of a roll anyways. -- 790 10:25, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Blocking Users

Apparently you can block users on Wikis with Fortnights as a time limit. See here for an example. Scroll down to near the bottom.--Eloc 09:00, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unusual usages

I've removed this section.

• The fortnight is the base unit of time in the FFF (Furlong/Firkin/Fortnight) System of units.

This remains minus the spelling out of "FFF".

• It can sometimes be used to describe a unit of time equal to five months in some Dickensian literature.^{[citation needed]}

This too remains but should prehaps be removed for lack of citation.

• In the VMS operating system, some configuration parameters are specified in microfortnights (one millionth of a fortnight, or 1.2096 seconds).

This is dealt with at FFF System.

• Millifortnights (about 20 minutes) and nanofortnights (1.2096 milliseconds) have also been used occasionally in computer science, usually in an attempt to be deliberately over-complex and obscure. The aim is generally to slow users down, allowing them to set parameters only after some thought.

as above

• One attoparsec per microfortnight is approximately 1.00432766 inches per second.

There'll be many strange & unusual units involving the fortnight. I don't see how this one is notable. If anyone should want a conversion, it can easily be derived.

• The speed unit of one furlong per fortnight is a barely noticeable 0.166 millimetres per second, or roughly 1 centimetre per minute.

This also dealt with at FFF System.

Jɪmp 01:23, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Linking to countries

I don't mean to be disruptive but I've delinked country names again. The only relevance any particular country has to this artilce is whether or not they use the term. The question could be asked of any English-speaking country. Should we link to them all? Let's keep relevant links out of the article per WP:OVERLINK. JIMp _talk·cont 00:39, 9 June 2008 (UTC)