"let me revert"

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

Been having a frustrating email conversation with a male colleague who neither reads emails or listens to conversations properly.

Yesterday was taken up repeating details that he just isn't paying attention to.

Today i got an email stating

"ok, let me revert"

Wanker. "let me revert". What does it even mean?

Did you reply: “You what, duck?”

Let him revert to someone who pays attention and read his emails properly? Was he ever that person? Can you revert to something you've never been?

Link him to this thread and we'll all call him a wanker.

Let me revert means let me have a think/talk to my manager and get back to you - or at least is does in my industry

I've had this before at work from people who seem to think it's a posh way of saying "reply". E.g. "Please check and revert ASAP!"

I just thought "revert to what?"

Yeah it's wanky jargon for reply. Usually said by people who say they will send you an Outlook instead of email.

It's just business speak for "I'll look into it/talk to someone and get back to you on that". Quite common in business emails, my boss says it all the time. I'm not seeing the problem.

Thought this would be about Islam.

What @bluejava said .

At least he seems to have realised he's missing the point and needs to think/confer.

It's considered correct usage in Indian and Singaporean English but generally seen as an error in British English.

I see it a handful of times per year in the UK but others may be seeing it more frequently in some industries.

I'm pretty sure this usage originates in people thinking "revert" has a general meaning of "go back" or "return".

So they use "revert" as in "get back to me".

Whereas its actual meaning was "return something to its original state."

Eg "We tried out a new start time of 9:30 am, but people were still late, so we reverted to 9am..."

As malmi says though, the new oh so wrong meaning is gaining ground.

I hate it, because revert had quite a precise meaning which is now being lost. But hey ho, language change is a tide one can never stop...

@PuppyMonkey that made me laugh out loud, thank you!

Sorry, after complaining about language use, I edited my post so badly it no longer said what I'd intended.

I agree with malmi's comment that it's already established in Indian English (I've come across it in Indian tech contexts).

I've only heard this from Indians. Surprised to hear that English people use it.

Just keep forwarding the original email back to him when he needs something repeating.

Quite often used in law too I think.

It's just business speak for "I'll look into it/talk to someone and get back to you on that". Quite common in business emails, my boss says it all the time. I'm not seeing the problem.

The problem is that isn't what revert means.

“The problem is that isn't what revert means“

Does now... I’ve never heard of it before but if it’s being widely used then - ta-da! it’s a new word. If you don’t believe me, look up “decimate” in the OED

@TheQueef made me laugh. I thought the same. OP should answer 'oh, how interesting! Tell me more.'

Interesting that it's common in Singapore/India/business.

My background is HCP, his is digital. Guess one of us is used to just getting on with stuff, and one is a wanker.

It's what I'd expect from an old school London legal secretary, TBH. It would make sense that Indian Business English retains what are now British archaicisms.

I first heard it on an IT project I was working on in 1996, for a petrochemical client based in Scandinavia. The Scandinavians all used "revert" instead of "reply."

Actually they used "revert back" which used to set my pedantic sensors twitching.