Here’s a timely reminder as we send and accept invitations
to holiday gatherings.
The French language lends itself to good manners – some of
which we borrow. When we invite somebody
to an event, and we want to know who’ll be there, we often end the invitation
with ‘RSVP’- an abbreviated form of ‘répondez, s’il vous plait’. Loosely translated, this is ‘Respond, if you
please’, or just ‘Please respond’.
Because they’re polite—or perhaps formal—French people often
finalize any type of request with ‘S’il vous plait’; it’s just good
manners. In writing, they will often
abbreviate it ‘SVP’ – but it still just essentially means ‘please’.
So, when we respond to an invitation, we are not really ‘RSVP-ing’,
since we’re not requesting anything … we’re just ‘R-ing’.
What’s that? Oh, of
course … you’re welcome.
