Maybe it’s all the parties and booze during the holiday season, but there are three common writing mistakes that pop up on holiday greetings every year. No matter how beautifully designed the greeting is and how long you spent selecting just the right photo, a writing mistake can ruin the sentiment. Keep your holiday greeting mistake-free by reviewing a few of the most common slip-ups.
Writing mistake #1: ’Tis the season for contraction mistakes
’Tis is a contraction of “it is” that was once more commonly used than it’s. It was first used in the fifteenth century and now makes an annual appearance around the holidays. Keep the apostrophe placed before the word tis and ’tis correct.
Writing mistake #2: Please, please reply to my invitation
RSVP is a shortened version of répondez s’il vous plaît, which is French for “respond, if you please.” “Please RSVP” sounds like you’re begging for a response by saying “please respond, if you please.” RSVP is enough; or you can skip the use of RSVP entirely and use “please respond” to avoid making any mistakes.
Writing mistake #3: Getting your own name wrong
Part of keeping up with the Joneses means spelling your family name right. With most surnames, you can simply add an s to the end of your last name to indicate the message is coming from more than one family member, for example, “the Patels.” If your name ends in s or z, as in Jones or Juarez, add es. The Joneses is correct because it indicates more than one member of the family. The Joneses’ indicates possession, as in the Joneses’ home.
Despite it being a busy season with parties and presents, make sure your holiday greeting is remembered for its beauty and sentiment and not for its writing mistakes.
