In need of replies
".... Please revert as soon as possible."
Sounds familiar to you? Many Singaporeans (including well-educated ones) fail to grasp the definition of REVERT.
REVERT means ‘To return to a former condition, practice, subject, or belief.’
When indicating that you will ‘get back’ to someone with an answer, use ‘REPLY’ or ‘WRITE BACK (to you).
So please refrain from reverting to the use of 'revert' when you actually mean to say 'reply'.
Another highly common REcurring shocker is IRREGARDLESS, which I found in a letter to parents written by one of NTU's senior faculty staff, when the user meant to say REGARDLESS.
As the Chinese saying goes, 上梁不正下梁歪...but let's not even go there....
Sounds familiar to you? Many Singaporeans (including well-educated ones) fail to grasp the definition of REVERT.
REVERT means ‘To return to a former condition, practice, subject, or belief.’
When indicating that you will ‘get back’ to someone with an answer, use ‘REPLY’ or ‘WRITE BACK (to you).
So please refrain from reverting to the use of 'revert' when you actually mean to say 'reply'.
Another highly common REcurring shocker is IRREGARDLESS, which I found in a letter to parents written by one of NTU's senior faculty staff, when the user meant to say REGARDLESS.
As the Chinese saying goes, 上梁不正下梁歪...but let's not even go there....
posted by totoro at 11:51 pm
2 Comments:
Tell me about it! I received an email from a CHANNEL NEWS ASIA JOURNALIST and she said, 'please revert asap.'
I want to cry. Her surname starts with a W.
I agree that even well-educated Singaporeans misuse 'revert'. After receiving several wedding invitations that used that word instead of 'reply', I became so confused that I believed that the use of 'revert' in this context had to be correct!
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