2006-12-04 10:56:40 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
In the beginning, why did we use that intead of an American "RP" - Respond Please. Is RSVP done in France today as well or is like French Fries here in the US?
2006-12-04 11:06:52 · update #1
I believe it's just one of those things ... tradition ... and all that jazz ;)
2006-12-04 10:58:26 · answer #1 · answered by britty♥ 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why the heck are you using 4 letter curse words in your question?
As for RSVP: it stands for respondez s'il vous plait (respond please). This is tradition and is a part of etiquette (also French). If all the foreign words and expressions were left out of the English language- there wouldn't be much left.
Get on with your life and stop worrying about the small stuff.
2006-12-04 11:30:24 · answer #2 · answered by Lizzie 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
English uses a lot of different languages including French!
2006-12-04 11:05:54 · answer #3 · answered by Cindy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Now tradition. A century ago French was the more-or-less universal language of diplomacy and culture. And once upon a time a broad liberal education including languages was highly prized, and boorish behavior was looked down upon.
2006-12-04 18:08:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. Perhaps it's the same reason why we use other French words in our vocabulary. We prefer to use hours dervs instead of appatizers, there are a lot of French words in cooking that their is no English equivalent.
2006-12-04 11:26:13 · answer #5 · answered by jakethekarr 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Probably because you could never and still can't count on the French and you never knew if they were going to show up or not. If they did show up then it was late. Therefore we used their own language and made them RSVP and it probably stuck. That's my educated guess on why we use it.
2006-12-04 11:06:45 · answer #6 · answered by delyanks 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
why does it matter? everything in all the cultures have mingled for the longest of times. there are so many words we use everyday that are french words and spanish and other languages that most people don't relize unless they have taken a class in that particular language.
2006-12-04 11:55:05 · answer #7 · answered by ♥Brown Eyed Girl ♥ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So-called "American English" is a conglomeration of many languages. Should we lose the word "taco" as well? I'm not quite sure what the angst is here.
2006-12-04 11:00:40 · answer #8 · answered by TankAnswer 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
French is a beautiful language. And what the hell is the hell your the hell problem the hell?
2006-12-04 13:37:01 · answer #9 · answered by Maus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think WWD has it right. There was a time when anything French was considered high class and refined.
2006-12-05 03:37:36 · answer #10 · answered by Adoptive Father 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because most of them don't realize that it is French.
They think it stands for "Respond So Very Promptly"...
2006-12-04 10:59:43 · answer #11 · answered by DontPanic 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋