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AussieMeg
Ancient Ancestor of Pea
PeaNut 51,689
October 2002
Posts: 6,634
Layouts: 16
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
 |  Posted: 12/3/2012 10:13:08 PM
I have been seeing 'revert' used instead of 'reply' quite a lot recently. A couple of examples, from 2 different people:
"Please do not hesitate to revert back accordingly"
"I will revert as soon as possible"
The first time I saw it was from a girl who works for an international freight forwarder, and one of her colleagues uses it too so I thought it might be a phrase used in the shipping industry. But today I got an email from a guy in my IT department and he used the second example I gave.
Are these people grammatically challenged, or is this acceptable usage that I was not aware of?  | |
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dawnandnala
BucketHead
PeaNut 81,629
April 2003
Posts: 831
Layouts: 33
| Posted: 12/3/2012 10:15:42 PM
maybe its an auto correct thing??  |
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SMG in AZ
Je suis desole
PeaNut 38,879
May 2002
Posts: 5,599
Layouts: 36
Loc: Phoenix area
| Posted: 12/3/2012 10:18:06 PM
In my world, revert would mean you took some action to return the item to a previous state, as opposed to return, to give back. So if you were handing them a dirty dish, it would be nice of them to revert it back to its formerly clean state before returning it.
But then again, I have started a list of words that are annoying me lately. Like "vetting", "socializing", "deep dive", and a few other overused corporate irritations. |
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cmpeter
PEAceful Pea
PeaNut 14,521
April 2001
Posts: 34,353
Layouts: 31
Loc: Washington State
 | Posted: 12/3/2012 10:21:34 PM
I have some colleagues in India who use the word revert in that context. |
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gottapeanow
Full of faith pea
PeaNut 79,417
April 2003
Posts: 9,825
Layouts: 57
Loc: Phoenix area
| Posted: 12/3/2012 10:23:12 PM
is this acceptable usage that I was not aware of?
No, it is not.
Lisa | |
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sunny_day
BucketHead
PeaNut 138,856
March 2004
Posts: 905
Layouts: 12
Loc: Chicago West Suburbs
 | Posted: 12/3/2012 10:27:48 PM
I've never heard it used that way. I don't believe it is grammatically correct.
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AussieMeg
Ancient Ancestor of Pea
PeaNut 51,689
October 2002
Posts: 6,634
Layouts: 16
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
| Posted: 12/3/2012 10:53:31 PM
Okay, I just did a Google search and it appears that it is common usage in India and South Asia.
I still think it's wrong. | |
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pennyring
Thrift Ninja
PeaNut 226,011
October 2005
Posts: 22,412
Layouts: 40
Loc: Rite Aid
 | Posted: 12/3/2012 10:59:40 PM
Weird. I would have been totally confused. I have work contacts all over the US and I've never seen such a thing.
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wordsmith
PeaAddict
PeaNut 38,191
May 2002
Posts: 1,502
Layouts: 5
Loc: in the matrix
 | Posted: 12/3/2012 11:28:54 PM
Our business associates on India use that phrasing. And after awhile some of the IT people pick it up too. |
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renee_elp
BucketHead
PeaNut 310,935
April 2007
Posts: 892
Layouts: 0
Loc: houston texas
 | Posted: 12/4/2012 2:04:42 AM
I see you're Australian ... you're at the source!
I'm working with a mixed team of English / NZ / Australians and all the contracts and logistics guys use it that way too.
Very confusing the first few time I saw it in print. | |
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AussieMeg
Ancient Ancestor of Pea
PeaNut 51,689
October 2002
Posts: 6,634
Layouts: 16
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
| Posted: 12/5/2012 3:56:47 AM
I see you're Australian ... you're at the source!
No, no! Don't blame me LOL!  I think it's ridiculous! | |
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arianwen
PeaNut
PeaNut 399,009
November 2008
Posts: 215
Layouts: 0
Loc: SE Asia
 | Posted: 12/5/2012 5:40:00 AM
I'm in SE Asia and I see it quite a lot.
Don't like it though |
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gar
Whoopea!
PeaNut 172,235
October 2004
Posts: 12,449
Layouts: 0
Loc: England UK
 | Posted: 12/5/2012 5:46:51 AM
I've never seen or heard that and it would sound very weird if I did!
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"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Stephen Roberts
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gillyp
PeaNut
PeaNut 133,866
February 2004
Posts: 254
Layouts: 0
Loc: An English Girl In Scotland
| Posted: 12/5/2012 10:15:01 AM
When I worked in the legal profession 20 odd years ago, we would often end a letter with "We will revert to you in due course" meaning we were obtaining some information/details and would get back to the other party when we had assessed the situation. It seems perfectly normal to me and I would still use it in an official letter today. I'd probably say it in an official conversation too!
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MerryMom937
PeaFixture
PeaNut 472,567
June 2010
Posts: 3,076
Layouts: 0
 | Posted: 12/5/2012 10:26:50 AM
I hear IT people use that term "revert" so I think it is business related jargon. It's also used in legal language. A goggle search reveals that it is also a term used in shipping.
It's not to be used in place of reply.
re·vert (r-vûrt)
intr.v. re·vert·ed, re·vert·ing, re·verts
1. To return to a former condition, practice, subject, or belief.
2. Law To return to the former owner or to the former owner's heirs. Used of money or property.
3. Genetics To undergo reversion.
revert
vb [rɪˈvÉœËÂt] (intr; foll by to)
1. to go back to a former practice, condition, belief, etc. she reverted to her old wicked ways
2. to take up again or come back to a former topic
3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) Biology (of individuals, organs, etc.) to return to a more primitive, earlier, or simpler condition or type
4. (Law) Property law (of an estate or interest in land) to return to its former owner or his heirs when a grant, esp a grant for the lifetime of the grantee, comes to an end
revert to type to resume characteristics that were thought to have disappeared
n [ˈriËÂËŒvÉœËÂt]
(Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) a person who, having been converted, has returned to his former beliefs or Church
[from Latin revertere to return, from re- + vertere to turn]
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dottyscrapper
PeaAddict
PeaNut 311,985
April 2007
Posts: 1,066
Layouts: 0
Loc: UK
| Posted: 12/5/2012 10:31:52 AM
Revert and Reply don't even have the same meaning !
I've never heard of using revert in the way the op said.
Revert means to go back to a previous version/shape/form etc.
" I will revert as soon as possible"?
So are they going back to blonde after they have dyed their hair black then?
Or maybe they are reverting back to an alien having visited earth for a few months 
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gillyp
PeaNut
PeaNut 133,866
February 2004
Posts: 254
Layouts: 0
Loc: An English Girl In Scotland
| Posted: 12/6/2012 11:23:28 AM
You are right, revert and reply are not the same thing. Revert in the context I use (and possibly that which the OP mentions) means we will get back to this discussion at some point.
As MerryMom937 says one of the definitions is
2. to take up again or come back to a former topic
Whether or not the contexts in which the OP's examples were used are correct is debatable but it is certainly an acceptable term in English usage.  | |
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purpledaisy
Calm
PeaNut 116,261
November 2003
Posts: 25,154
Layouts: 102
| Posted: 12/6/2012 11:44:51 AM
I've never heard it used in that context. |
Becca
May we be consumed with the Creator of all things rather than with things created.
6 rings - no cheating! Go STEELERS!
Holding a grudge is letting someone live rent-free in your head. | |
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SmartyPants71
MTB Pea
PeaNut 53,328
October 2002
Posts: 5,437
Layouts: 2
Loc: Bellaire, TX
| Posted: 12/6/2012 11:51:15 AM
I see that quite a bit in my work. Many of my colleagues are from India, so maybe that's why. | |
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bechla
PeaNut
PeaNut 564,253
August 2012
Posts: 90
Layouts: 0
| Posted: 12/6/2012 6:51:57 PM
I have mostly seen this with outsourced employees in India. | |
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e_doe
PeaNut
PeaNut 525,528
October 2011
Posts: 306
Layouts: 0
 | Posted: 12/6/2012 7:39:18 PM
I've only ever seen it from people in India. Though my favorite India-ism is "Do the needful." | |
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AussieMeg
Ancient Ancestor of Pea
PeaNut 51,689
October 2002
Posts: 6,634
Layouts: 16
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
| Posted: 12/6/2012 8:16:46 PM
I'm at work and I just received an email where the guy said "I will raise this with Brian tomorrow and get his direction and revert." Aaaaragh!! It was in relation to imported stock so again, shipping. So I think this is accurate:
I hear IT people use that term "revert" so I think it is business related jargon. It's also used in legal language. A goggle search reveals that it is also a term used in shipping.
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mstubble
PeaFixture
PeaNut 281,278
October 2006
Posts: 3,334
Layouts: 0
Loc: Northern Virginia
| Posted: 12/6/2012 8:20:57 PM
I hear IT people use that term "revert" so I think it is business related jargon.
IT person here and I've never heard anyone use the term "revert". |
Parachute
Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket? | |
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mdoc
Peaing under the Radar
PeaNut 61,691
January 2003
Posts: 11,821
Layouts: 0
Loc: In the Middle
| Posted: 12/6/2012 10:35:34 PM
I've never seen it used that way. | |
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gillyp
PeaNut
PeaNut 133,866
February 2004
Posts: 254
Layouts: 0
Loc: An English Girl In Scotland
| Posted: 12/7/2012 3:10:44 AM
A few have mentioned that it's common in India. I would imagine that's because English language taught there is old fashioned and 'proper' i.e. "The Queen's English" rather than the more modern English taught today. The lawyer who taught me to use revert was very old fashioned but all of us in that profession used it. | |
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*Delphinium Twinkle*
I'm just a pea:)
PeaNut 163,613
August 2004
Posts: 68,086
Layouts: 236
Loc: *Sunny Southern California*
| Posted: 12/7/2012 9:04:59 AM
I'm sure that's incorrect.
It's should say reply.
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*Delphinium Twinkle*
I'm just a pea:)
PeaNut 163,613
August 2004
Posts: 68,086
Layouts: 236
Loc: *Sunny Southern California*
| Posted: 12/7/2012 9:06:19 AM
"- verb (used without object)
1.
to return to a former habit, practice, belief, condition, etc.: They reverted to the ways of their forefathers.
2.
Law. to go back to or return to the former owner or to his or her heirs.
3.
Biol. to return to an earlier or primitive type.
4.
to go back in thought or discussion: He constantly reverted to his childhood." |
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