{"id":1559,"date":"2022-02-03T20:15:33","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T20:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=1559"},"modified":"2022-02-03T20:15:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T20:15:33","slug":"please-confirm-receipt-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/please-confirm-receipt-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Please Confirm Receipt - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

You open your email and find the sender telling you, \u201cplease confirm receipt<\/em>.\u201d What do they mean? This post unpacks everything you need to know about the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

If someone sends you an email or letter with \u201cplease confirm receipt<\/em>\u201d in the title or at the end of the writings, they are asking you to let them know that you received and read the information. It\u2019s another way of asking someone to \u201cRSVP<\/em>\u201d on an invitation or information.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Typically, this saying only uses business language, and most people don\u2019t use it anymore due to the invention of read receipts on email clients like Microsoft Outlook. In most cases, you\u2019ll find this phrase in business communications from senior management and clients.<\/p>\n

If you find the request in an email, it\u2019s probably a good idea to read the information in the email quickly to get a brief understanding of the content. If you don\u2019t have the time to read it, you could reply with, \u201cReceipt confirmed; I will look at this later. I\u2019m just busy right now<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cI sent you an email about an hour ago about the big client meeting coming up tomorrow. Please confirm receipt<\/em>, so I know you\u2019re on board with the strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAttached, please find your invite to the wedding. Please confirm receipt<\/em> of this email so we can add you to the list.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease confirm receipt <\/em>of this email.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease confirm receipt<\/em>, or we won\u2019t know if you got the email. The servers are acting funny lately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

No one knows when people first started using the phrase \u201cplease confirm receipt<\/em>\u201d in communications. Some experts believe that it first appeared with the advent of email in the mid to late nineties. At the time, there was no \u201cread receipt<\/em>\u201d feature in early versions of email clients.<\/p>\n

As a result, people use the term to express the importance of the message to the recipient. They ask them to reply to the email to put their minds at ease that the recipient received the information. Some experts suggest that the term started to fade in the mid-2000s as read receipts were added to email clients like Microsoft Outlook.<\/p>\n

Some experts suggest that the term was already in use before the advent of email, but no evidence supports these claims.<\/p>\n