Nevertoobusyforsocialmanners

　　Soyouforgottoanswerthatpartyinvitationyoureceived.Now,thedayhascomeandgone,andyou’refeelingguiltybecauseyounevertoldthehostyoucouldn’tattend.

　　“Don’tallowthisoversight(疏忽)toruinyourrelationship,”saysR.ThomasBoone,aUSsocialpsychologist.“Iwouldshowupwithabottleofwineandsay,‘Iowe(感激,亏欠)youone.I’mreallysorry’,”Boonesays.

　　Sendane-mail,makeaphonecallorreachouttothehostanotherway.Whateverthemethod,doitassoonaspossible.

　　Ifguestsdon’tanswertheinvitationsontime,thehostcannotpossiblyplanforthecorrectamountoffoodanddrink.Thismayleadtohundredsoreventhousandsofdollarsofwaste.

　　“Everybodyhasabusyschedulenow,”Boonesays.Ifyouknowyouareforgetfulwhenitcomestomakingphonecalls,tryemailingyourRSVPsassoonastheinvitationarrives.RSVPistheshortformoftheFrenchphrase“répondezs’ilvousplaît”,meaning“Reply,ifyouplease”.

　　Thefollowingaresomecommonlyusedtermsininvitationlettersandtheirmeanings.Besuretoknowtheseandanswerinvitationsproperly.

　　RSVP,REGRETSONLYOnlyguestswhocan’tattendneedreply.Youneedtogiveaproperreasonwhyyoucan’tattend.

　　RSVPBY…Guestsshouldrespondwithyesornobythedateindicatedontheinvitation.Settingadategivesguestsadeadline.Itisalsoadeadlineforthehosttoconnectguestswhohaven’treply.

　　RSVPBYE-MAILGuestscanrespondbye-mail.Unlikephonecalls,e-mailscanbesentwithoutregardtotimeofdayorlocation.

　　我在找翻译啊--