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Picture of Kalleh
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I have some colleagues from Singapore who will be visiting us in Chicago. I sent an email welcoming them, and they are out of town right now. One of them responded with this: "Yes, we will discuss and revert asap." Have you seen "revert" used in that way before? I looked it up to see if I have missed another definition of the word, but I didn't see that I had.
 
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Picture of arnie
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Yes, I've seen this fairly often. It's business jargon that means "get back to you" in this case.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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Picture of Richard English
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As Arnie writes, it's business jargon that saves writing the sentence, "I will get back to you". Common enough in the UK.


Richard English
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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Americans, have you heard it? I sure haven't. I suppose the definition of "go back" could apply, but it seems reaching, at best.
 
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I've never heard it used that way, but I can see it catching on. The OED Online offers this definition;

quote:
10. intr.

a. Of a speaker or narrator: to go back or return to a previous subject of discourse. Also with infinitive.


Here is a quote from an article that appeared in the New York Times June 3, 2010.

quote:
It turns out that unbeknownst to most dictionaries, revert has been leading another life in several varieties of world English, notably the kind spoken on the Indian subcontinent. The usage has finally garnered the attention of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which amended the definition of revert for its newly published eighth edition to include the meaning "to reply." Marked in the OALD as "Indian English," the use of the word is exemplified by the sentences: "Excellent openings - kindly revert with your updated CV," and "We request you to kindly revert back if you have any further requirements."

And here is the definition in full from the OALD .

quote:
[intransitive] (+ adverb/preposition) (Indian English, rather formal) to reply
Excellent openings—kindly revert with your updated CV.
We request you to kindly revert back if you have any further requirements.

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Phrasal verbs
revert to somebody/something
(law) (of property, rights, etc.) to return to the original owner again
see also reversion
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revert to something (formal)
1 to return to a former state; to start doing something again that you used to do in the past.
After her divorce she reverted to her maiden name.
His manner seems to have reverted to normal.
Try not to revert to your old eating habits.
He reverted to his native language
(= started using it again.
The house was a school for a while, but has reverted to being a private house.
The area has reverted back to a wilderness.
For a while the children behaved well but they soon reverted to type
(= returned to their usual ways).

2 to return to an earlier topic or subject
So, to revert to your earlier question…
The conversation kept reverting to the events of March 6th.


I wish it gave dates with those quotes.
 
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Since the French word for "green is "vert," I thought it meant turn green again. Confused


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
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One thing that caught my eye in the OALD definition was the "Indian English, rather formal." So, "I'll revert" is more formal than "I'll get back to you?"
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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I wondered if "revert" is more formal, too, Tinman.
 
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Revert with that meaning may be formal in India, but it sounds more like slang around here.
 
Posts: 2878 | Location: Shoreline, WA, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by Geoff:
Since the French word for "green is "vert," I thought it meant turn green again. Confused

Then I guess the trees in your part of the country are "deverting" right now and will "revert" in the spring.
 
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