Yearly. Obviously.

The story: They agreed: all contracts are yearly. Deal signed in September 2024. At the end of December she said they wouldn't renew for 2025. He was confused — the deal ran until September 2025. She meant calendar year. He meant twelve months from signing. Same word, two completely different clocks running.

What it means for organisations: In commercial and operational agreements, the words that feel most standard carry the most assumptions. "Yearly," "quarterly," "on time," "complete" — these are the terms everyone assumes are self-defining. They aren't. The cost of not defining them shows up exactly when it's too late to fix.