Nothing I said clicked until I told them it was like adding “R” to “S.V.P.,” short for “S’il Vous Plait,” a well-known French acronym for the word “please.” Even in French-speaking Quebec, weknow the meaning of RSVP. I tried explaining to them how Anglophone countries use RSVP. It took me a few minutes to wrap my head around this simple fact. It is, after all, a French abbreviation for the French phrase “Répondez, S’il Vous Plaît.” When it came time to type RSVP at the bottom of the invitation, one of my friends squealed in a high pitched voice, “mais qu’est ce que c’est ça, RSVP?” which could mean anything from “but what is this RSVP?” all the way to “What the hell is that, RSVP?”.Īt first, I thought they were joking or pretending not to know the meaning of RSVP. I think the invitation turned out super cute! Don’t you?Īs I created the invitation in Photoshop, my girlfriends looked over my shoulder, giving me annoying but welcomed feedback. I happily agreed and came up with the idea to make the invitation look like a postcard with five red Russian nesting dolls-one for each family member, including the cat. She and her family were moving to Russia for three years for a job opportunity. One of my good friends in France asked me to create an invitation (in French) for her going away party. STORYTIME: My confused French friends and the French invitationĭespite being an abbreviation for a French phrase, RSVP, has fallen out of fashion in France, considered old-fashioned- but I didn’t know that when I first moved to France.
Rsvp stand for how to#
In this article, we’ll explore how to properly respond to an invitation in France, why RSVP is no longer used and my embarrassing story. I found out the hard way that, although it’s customary to respond to an invitation in France, no one uses the acronym “RSVP” on invitations despite it being a French acronym.
“REPLY IF IT PLEASES YOU,” but idiomatically, it means “PLEASE REPLY.” RSVP is an abbreviation of the phrase “ Répondez, S’il Vous Plaît Like so many English words, RSVP is a French word (in this case an abbreviation of a French phrase), adopted into the English language.
And you probably already know that you’re supposed to respond and let the host or hostess know whether or not you can accept their invitation. If you’re reading this, you speak English, and most likely, you’re accustomed to seeing the phrase “RSVP” on birthday party invitations or wedding invitations. Here’s everything you need to know, its meaning in French and English, its origins, how to use it and my embarrassing story. I was curious to learn why RSVP, a French abbreviation, isn’t used in France.
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