We need to stop putting RSVP on birthday invites because nobody knows what they mean. Because it’s in French.
I just went on FB and had a moment of enlightenment because it turns out people think it means “let me know if you will be attending.”
Why is everybody using it if they have no idea what it means? Next time I’m just putting “let me know if you are coming or not” on the invite.
I’m not sure I understand this post. RSVP (which is an abbreviation for an expression that literally means “please respond”) is widely used as a prompt to the guest to let the host know if they’re coming to a gathering. Are you objecting to the fact that nobody knows what the abbreviation stands for? Or that they don’t know what they’re supposed to do with it, because I don’t think that’s true, since the abbreviation is in widespread use?
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People think that RSVP means they only need to respond if they are coming. If they aren’t coming, they think they don’t need to respond. This explains why I never get any responses to my RSVPs.
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The version I find most amusing is “Please RSVP.”
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We need to stop putting RSVP on birthday invites because nobody knows what they mean. Because it’s in French.
Oh please. That just means they weren’t raised with any ettiquette knowledge. I knew it meant, “let me know if you are coming” before I knew what “Répondez s’il vous plaît,” meant. This is very basic as my mother would say, “Yes we’re coming” or “No we’re not” to invites all the time.
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RSVP has been used in the English language for about 200 years. I think it’s maybe a bit formal for kids party invitations which are by definition informal, but people should know what it means. Doesn’t make them obey though!
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