Honorverse opinions

tlb wrote:2. The use of "RSVP" as a shorthand for a formal invitation is simply something that I had never before encountered. Although I have received engraved wedding invitations, most social gatherings that I am familiar with just involve an email announcing a possible get together. Certainly getting so many formal invitations that I would needs a short name for them is foreign to me.

It wouldn't be the first time a French or otherwise foreign term got misused when spoken by people of other languages. Like how in the US the main course in restaurants are called "entrées" instead of that label referring to what the word means: the entry dish. I've always figured that the entrées got too big in restaurants that people stopped ordering the main courses. Like how Business Class seats have displaced First Class on long-haul flights.

tlb wrote:2. The use of "RSVP" as a shorthand for a formal invitation is simply something that I had never before encountered. Although I have received engraved wedding invitations, most social gatherings that I am familiar with just involve an email announcing a possible get together. Certainly getting so many formal invitations that I would needs a short name for them is foreign to me.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:It wouldn't be the first time a French or otherwise foreign term got misused when spoken by people of other languages. Like how in the US the main course in restaurants are called "entrées" instead of that label referring to what the word means: the entry dish. I've always figured that the entrées got too big in restaurants that people stopped ordering the main courses. Like how Business Class seats have displaced First Class on long-haul flights.

If you look at the Wikipedia article on "entrées", then it is possible the use in the USA matches the French usage as of the mid-18th Century when influential people had close ties to the French Court (such as Jefferson and Franklin); indicating perhaps that the connection was lost after that point. Whereas the connection would continue in the European countries and so match the current French usage (even in pre-Brexit Great Britain).

Language gets played with and usages change all the time. What was exclusive or picked up from another language (or social set) becomes part of vocabulary. Like the creation of slang or sticking technical words into non-technical conversation.
RSVP [ short for: Répondez s'il vous plaît] moved into English. Mostly you see it only on the formal kinds of invitations (weddings etc) but it long ago lost the sort of exclusivity it had for being something only "upper class" people used. Kind of like an invitation for yourself and a guest (of your own choosing) has degenerated into "+1". Now days, probably most RSVP invitations come with an enclosed responce cared (and envelope) if physicaly sent. Clearly, the intent= beyond just the invitation- is to get a response and so get at least a count of who is or isn't comming or an acknowlegement of acceptance.
If you are not exposed to words, their meanings or situations, you may have difficulty understanding but get some idea from how they are used. That is what schooling and training is all about- teaching you things even if is having to work out for yourself what you are supposed to do/say based on what is going on around you and the way you are expected to handle various situations.

Brigade XO wrote:Language gets played with and usages change all the time. What was exclusive or picked up from another language (or social set) becomes part of vocabulary. Like the creation of slang or sticking technical words into non-technical conversation.
RSVP [ short for: Répondez s'il vous plaît] moved into English. Mostly you see it only on the formal kinds of invitations (weddings etc) but it long ago lost the sort of exclusivity it had for being something only "upper class" people used. Kind of like an invitation for yourself and a guest (of your own choosing) has degenerated into "+1". Now days, probably most RSVP invitations come with an enclosed responce cared (and envelope) if physicaly sent. Clearly, the intent= beyond just the invitation- is to get a response and so get at least a count of who is or isn't comming or an acknowlegement of acceptance.
If you are not exposed to words, their meanings or situations, you may have difficulty understanding but get some idea from how they are used. That is what schooling and training is all about- teaching you things even if is having to work out for yourself what you are supposed to do/say based on what is going on around you and the way you are expected to handle various situations.

Indeed!

The materials are always included inside. An RSVP is NOT simply an invitation, and the event is NOT simply an event. A formal RSVP exudes attitude. And it conveys privacy.

And, in my social circles, you do not simply send a regrets only response to an RSVP, that is considered a bit rude for someone sending you an invitation to a very exclusive event. You pick up the phone.

If Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs or the Queen sends you an RSVP. It is NOT simply an invitation. And if you cannot make it, you're damn right you regret it. But you communicate it a little classier than, just, regrets only. My mother always made that clear. If you are not going to attend, you march your ass over there and tell them yourself.

A normal invitation is different, which may include rsvp at the bottom of the invite. That is an invitation, with an included plea to rsvp.

A hand delivered envelope with simply the letters RSVP has more rank, because you don't want to lay it down somewhere and it ages off your radar. They are usually designed to stand out from your normal pile of crappy mail. I have one using a black envelope and white lettering. And the opposite. I received one which were 3D letters, RSVP. I have one which is surrounded by a dizzying pattern of an illusion. In my mother's day, gold was bold.

There is a very big difference between an rsvp included at the bottom of the correspondence contained inside the envelope, and a hand delivered RSVP on the front.