# "Please RSVP" - redundant?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 8, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443 "2009-12-08T14:00:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/21 "2009-12-08T16:57:09Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> It might be a consensus, but RSVP is quite properly a verb by itself. From [m-w.com](http://m-w.com):
>
> Main Entry: 1RSVP
> Pronunciation: \ˌär-ˌes-ˌvē-ˈpē
> Function: intransitive verb
> Inflected Form(s): RSVP’d or RSVPed; RSVP’·ing or RSVP·ing
> Date: 1953
> : to respond to an invitation
>
> Language, words, meanings, etc. evolve, whether we think it’s “proper” usage or not. Also notice that the entry is spelled in all caps, unlike the original R.s.v.p.
I think that may be the first time I’ve seen a dictionay definition showing an acronym that is spelled out instead of being pronounced as a word, but still conjugated in the spelled-out form. Is there a word for that?
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### Author:  [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/22 "2009-12-08T17:01:25Z")
> [@jjimm](#):
>
> Enter your PIN number at the AIB Bank Banklink ATM machine.
Or online if you feel HTTP protocol is secure enough for you.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/23 "2009-12-08T17:23:51Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> Eh? Did you read post #11 from [m-w.com](http://m-w.com)?
> [@Irishman](#):
>
> Check the cite by **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker**. RSVP is a verb meaning “to respond”. I don’t see “please” in that dictionary cite. And the date on that cite is 1953.
It gives the meaning of RSVP as a normal verb, not necessarily as an imperative form (which is what’s on an invitation).
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/24 "2009-12-08T17:25:24Z")
Why use RSVP anymore at all? Just put “Respond, if you please” on all your cotillion invites from now on.
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### Author:  [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/25 "2009-12-08T17:38:19Z")
Am I wrong to be irked when our local PBS radio station gives an announcement of, say, a seminar on possum smoking, then follows it with “RSVP is required” or “RSVP at [norsablab.com](http://norsablab.com)”? It seems inappropriate to use “RSVP” for a public announcement, since obviously they don’t want thousands of people responding with “Mrs. Stinkwort and I will not be attending.”
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### Author:  [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/26 "2009-12-08T17:46:45Z")
Is your goal to be absolutely proper?
R.s.v.p.
Is your goal to politely request your invited guests to respond, in such a way that they will be sure to understand?
Please RSVP
Would you like to just avoid the whole damn issue?
Please respond by [date] to let [me/us] know whether or not you will be able to attend.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/27 "2009-12-08T18:11:13Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#):
>
> Please respond by [date] to let [me/us] know whether or not you will be able to attend.
“The courtesy of a response is requested.”
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### Author:  [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/28 "2009-12-08T18:37:01Z")
> [@Skammer](#):
>
> “The courtesy of a response is requested.”
This would be my choice, because it sounds nicely formal and polite, but unfortunately the words “courtesy” and “requested” imply that you needn’t respond unless you feel like it. Too many people are already inclined in this direction, IMHO.
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### Author:  [@ThePylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThePylon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/29 "2009-12-08T19:02:10Z")
So no. Not redundant.
However “with au jus” sure as hell is.
No - I do not want my roast beef with with juice.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/30 "2009-12-08T19:14:03Z")
> [@fandango](#):
>
> Or online if you feel HTTP protocol is secure enough for you.
Depends, is it pointing to an ASP page or a JSP page?
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/31 "2009-12-08T19:35:47Z")
Whichever. You still won’t need your SSN number.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/32 "2009-12-08T20:16:38Z")
How many people today know that “from whence” is redundant? From the evidence, about one in a hundred. This is the way the language works.
For an eye-opening account of the depth of redundancy in English and other languages, read [The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind’s Greatest Invention, by Guy Deutscher](http://www.amazon.com/Unfolding-Language-Evolutionary-Mankinds-Invention/dp/0805079076).
And BTW, using the last word of an acronym to follow the acronym is absolutely correct. Not a widespread mistake, but the proper way to handle a usage that has become common in and of itself. That’s why there are so many examples of it. It’s like finding examples where the subject and verb agree. Of course there will be many.
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### Author:  [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/33 "2009-12-08T20:35:39Z")
> [@ThePylon](#):
>
> So no. Not redundant.
>
> However “with au jus” sure as hell is.
>
> No - I do not want my roast beef with with juice.
What about going to the La Brea Tar Pits?
“La Brea” is Spanish for “tar” (or “the tar”), so “the La Brea Tar Pits” could be construed as “the the tar tar pits”
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### Author:  [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/34 "2009-12-08T20:37:57Z")
I’m usually a bit of a grammar nazi, but just putting ‘RSVP’ seems too demanding somehow.
‘Please RSVP’ just feels right, even though it is redundant.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/35 "2009-12-08T20:41:24Z")
Redundancy in language is no crime, and often needed.
For instance: “Do you have a PIN?” and “Do you have a PIN Number?” are asking about two different things if spoken.
Or, “I work at NBT.” What occupation is that? But “I work at NBT Bank” makes it clear.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/36 "2009-12-08T20:51:57Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#):
>
> What about going to the La Brea Tar Pits?
>
> “La Brea” is Spanish for “tar” (or “the tar”), so “the La Brea Tar Pits” could be construed as “the the tar tar pits”
Or asking about the Rio Grande River?
Which is a 20 oz. sparkling water at a Spanish Starbuck’s.
😃
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/37 "2009-12-08T21:57:36Z")
In happier news, it turns out this thread isn’t redundant. I couldn’t search earlier (kept timing out) but I was sure I would get 15 wags offering links to identical earlier threads.
I just searched for RSVP myself and found only 15, mostly rants about people ignoring the instruction.
Yay!
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### Author:  [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/38 "2009-12-08T22:38:37Z")
On the further subject of redundant things, chai tea. “Chai” just means “tea;” the actual name of it is “masala chai” (spice-blend tea).
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### Author:  [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/39 "2009-12-09T17:27:52Z")
> [@Projammer](#):
>
> rsvp, atm, pin, and probably many other acronyms have become defacto words. So while “please rsvp” and “pin number” are technically redundant, they do sound better than the correct forms to the average person.
I still can’t stand the sound of ATM Machine and PIN Number. And I work at a bank. I hear that a lot. ugh.
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rsvp-redundant/520443/40 "2009-12-09T22:22:32Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#):
>
> This would be my choice, because it sounds nicely formal and polite, but unfortunately the words “courtesy” and “requested” imply that you needn’t respond unless you feel like it. Too many people are already inclined in this direction, IMHO.
Short of “The favour of a reply is demanded,” or just “Answer this invitation!”, that’s about as direct as you can really get.
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