Archive: Arts & Entertainment

SMART TALK

by Dr. Dot Pilcrow

PLEASE R.S.V.P.: At the Center for English as a First Language, we often get invitations to tony gatherings that need authentic authorities in some field who might lend legitimacy to the function. Ironically, the formal invitations often end with Please R.S.V.P.

We never answer these at all.

Anyone who uses R.S.V.P. to close a communication should know that the letters stand for "Reply, please" in French. If they don't know that, they should stick to what they do know and simply write Please reply.

Please R.S.V.P. means "Please reply, please" and makes the writer look ignorant.

Not understanding common abbreviations can cause frequent embarrassment. We often hear goofs such as P.I.N. number, V.I.N. number, A.T.M. machine, A.B.S. system, S.A.T. test, L.C.D. display, and recently, C.F.L. lights.

We try to be polite. Instead of laughing, we encourage these unfortunates to come in for a free diagnostic test.

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