‘Maybe’, according to The Wall Street Journal, is one word that always gets lost in translation.
And in the age of electronic invitations that can be quite a problem because ‘maybe’ tends to mean very different things.
To some, it’s a gentle way of saying ‘no’. To others, it’s a way to hedge in case a better offer comes along.
Psychologists explain the word’s effect this way: “Person A who says, ‘Yeah, maybe,’ essentially puts recipient B on hold. B is powerless.”