People are only just learning what RSVP actually means – and most don’t get it

People are only discovering now that the term ‘RSVP’ is actually French and it doesn’t stand for an English acronym after all – it’s certainly not ‘respond soon via post’

If you’ve ever sent out a letter of invitation for a wedding or a large party, you’ll know how important it is for your guests to respond and let you know they’re coming. The number of guests helps you to determine how much food you have to order, how many seats you need and what familiar faces to expect at the door.

But what does the term ‘RSVP’ actually mean? For years, many people have wrongly assumed it’s an acronym for ‘respond soon via post’, when it couldn’t be further off the mark. One TikTok account has answered the widely-unknown question and it’s sending users into a frenzy online.

The page @artnaturals posed the question ‘what does RSVP stand for?’ to people in its office, and many members of staff struggled to get past ‘R’.

“Respond very promptly,” one TikTok user commented, while another guessed: “Reservation for very important person.”

Others assumed “respond soon for party”, “respond soon via phone” and “reserve soon very promptly.”

“Reserve special vehicle parking please,” another random comment suggested.

Though some people knew the correct answer and explained that RSVP is actually French for ‘répondez s’il vous plaît’ – which translates to “please reply”.

The acronym isn’t complicated after all, and just means the host of the party is asking you to respond.

But because it’s in French, lots of people tend to get confused – we all just need to brush up on our language skills.

RSVP isn’t the only shortened term that’s enlightening Brits – people’s minds are blown after discovering the difference between Christmas and Xmas.

It turns out Xmas “represents the Greek letter chi the initial letter in the word Χριστός (Chrīstos)” which means (Jesus) Christ.

According to Dictionary.com, the X has been widely accepted as a representation of the word Christ for hundreds of years, with its common usage explaining why the word sometimes appears in the abbreviated form.

Did you know what RSVP meant? Let us know in the comments.