Oct 14, 2021
You are using the word “Revert” wrong!
And it is maybe okay to do so.
The word “revert” has created a place for itself to mean “reply” yet they are not synonyms of each other! This word officially did get the meaning amended and marked “Indian English” by Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary a decade ago. I could only find a brief article by Ben Zimmer about this in The New York Times Magazine.
But it still communicates wrong to most of the world for whom it means “return to a former state”. The practical explanation for the wrong usage of it to mean “reply” originates through mass misuse initiated by someone trying to show off (okay, we all do this now and then). Yet the reason for it lasting forever should be attributed to the education system of India which never cared to teach how to write “e-mails” as we were instead taught how to write “physical letters” (I mean they could have taught both and told which is the modern way, but Nah!).
But should you continue to use “revert” in your e-mails?
Depends entirely on you, though I wouldn’t use it.
I would not be using it because English is a global language meant to connect the majority of non-native and native speakers, thus using the most widely accepted ways of the language is the best way to remain unambiguous in your communication.
Also, we all try to sound fancy with our language, but that takes effort to form clear sentences. When in doubt, use the simplest of the words! Remember that communication is all about two parties having the intended context with each other.
While we are here anyway learning better communication, let us also try to correct something else
Ironically, we use “revert” with “back” in our e-mails and texts, when it inherently implies “back”. So, even in the Indian context if you want someone to reply to you, kindly write “revert to this mail” and not “revert back to this mail”. Also, do remember that even the word “reply” should not be followed by “back” and “discuss” should not be followed by “about”. For more such common errors, click here for a list compiled by Professor Paul Brians who formerly taught at Washington State University.
While there is nothing wrong with using such redundant English as long as the other person understands the context, but using concise English just makes your communication feel a lot more intellectual.
By the way use the services of Grammarly, even the free version is good! (Just add the plugin to your browser and you’ll be amazed at how nice it makes your written language)
