A lot of significant events take place in life, the joy of which I want to share with family and friends. Often on invitations you can see the RSVP mark. The decoding of this abbreviation is the subject of this article.
History
The history of the abbreviation is rooted in the distant XIV century. France, the birthplace of a concept such as etiquette, introduced the expression Répondez s'il vous plaît into English culture, meaning "please answer." Uppercase letters of expression are still used in invitation letters of the English, smoothly migrating to the written invitations of the Russian-speaking population.
RSVP abbreviation: what does it mean
An invitation ending in RSVP means waiting for a response from the invitees. This means that the recipient of the invitation letter must give an oral or written response about his presence or absence at the event.
This abbreviation is not only a tribute to the traditions and rules of etiquette. The RSVP mark, the interpretation of which can be interpreted as “answer please,” allows you to calculate the exact number of guests at the event, having received answers from everyone.
Sometimes in letters the designation RSVP is found. This abbreviation is interpreted in the same way as the interpretation of RSVP.
How to respond to an invitation
The abbreviation RSVP on the invitation letter or postcard implies a response from all the invitees, regardless of whether they made a positive or negative decision.
The answer “Yes, I will definitely come” or “Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the event” will be enough.
Some mistakenly believe that you can not answer if attending an event is questionable or not possible at all. In Las Vegas, where there are also heated discussions about RSVP decryption, a special term Cautela has been created, which involves receiving an answer to an invitation only from those who can participate in the event.