Philippe, > RSVP is a French acronym for "Répondez, s'il vous plait".
Yes, we know that. But it is also a reanalyzed English verb which means "reply to a message (or invitation)". That it has been morphological reanalyzed is demonstrated by the fact that it takes regular English verb endings, as in: "I RSVPed yesterday, right after I got the email." As I said, it is now a bona fide English verb, and most English speakers will treat it as such. > SVP means "please" in English, so when I see "Please RSVP", there's a sort > of repetition of "please", as if it was an emphatic and desesperate request: > "Please reply, please"! That's actually a misinterpretation by people who "know too much" -- particularly French speakers. ;) "Please RSVP" actually means "Please reply (to this invitation)", and is polite, not emphatic or desperate. --Ken
