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Improve your professional English writing skills: 11. Avoid this word 'revert' - YouTube
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Hello and welcome to Lesson 11. In this lesson, I
want you, from now on - let's make a deal - I want
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you never to use the word “revert” in your
writing. Mostly, you're going to find this
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word in emails and you are going to receive
emails with this word, so you might think,
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“okay, everyone else is using it - I can use it as
well!” But, from now on, I want you to *never use*
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that word again, and in this video, I will explain
why. Sometimes being able to write more clearly
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is just about avoiding confusing words - and
that's what “revert” is. It is a confusing
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word. No-one knows exactly what it means. It's
a word where, if you look at the definition in
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a dictionary, it will tell you one or two things.
It will tell you *the proper meaning* of “revert”,
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and what revert is understood to mean today.
But when you meet the word in context - so when
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you see an email with “revert” in it - it doesn't
automatically match the meaning in the dictionary.
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So, the actual definition of “revert” is:
to go back to a previous state, to revert
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to what it was last week, last month, or so
on. And, in law, “revert” means to give back
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possession to the person who had possession
before. So, the legal definition of “revert”
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and the normal everyday English definition of
“revert” are very, very similar - to go back
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to what it was. However, the modern definition -
that is in the last 20 or 30 years - the modern
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definition of “revert” is to respond or to reply.
But that's not always the case and the problem is,
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is that it can mean different things depending
on the context. And we'll have a look at a few
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examples in a second. The biggest problem with
this is, when it's used in this context and it
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doesn't mean “respond” or “reply” [as it commonly
is meant to mean], then you're asking the reader
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to do the work. You're asking the reader to try
to work out what the message is. This is not the
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job of the reader. This is the job of you as the
writer. You as the writer should choose language
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which is easy for the reader to understand or
clear for the reader to understand. This is one
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main reason why readers get so annoyed - because
they have to spend time and try to work out,
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“what is the writer trying to say?” And that's why
you have to avoid this word “revert”. So, let's
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have a look at an example sentence, “Please can
you revert to the client and answer her question.”
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Now, this could mean a number of different things
and that's the problem with “revert”. Underneath
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“revert”, there is actually a clear message, but
because the writer doesn't express that clear
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message, we, as the readers in this case, have to
understand what this means. So, if my boss sent me
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this email, “please can you revert to the client
and answer her question,” I have to work out what
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does my boss wants from me. And then I’ve got to
make a decision, and my decision might be correct
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or it might be incorrect, and if it's incorrect,
then my boss will shout at me and that's not fair.
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Similarly, if you're writing to someone and you
say “revert”, you're also not being fair to the
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reader because the reader then has to decide in
the same way I would have to decide if my boss
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sent me a message. So, using revert, using
ambiguous language, is not fair to the reader.
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What could this example sentence mean? It
could mean, “please can you contact the client
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and answer her question.” It could mean, “please
could you reply to the client - this is her email
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below - and answer her question.” It could mean
other things as well depending on the context.
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So this is the problem - if I understand this
word wrongly, if the reader understands this word
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wrongly, then you're not being fair to the
reader. So these are the teaching tips - don't
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use “revert”. Use a strong verb - what you
really want to say. Whether it's “contact”,
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whether it's “respond”, whether it's “reply”,
whether it's “inform”, whether it's “tell”,
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whatever strong verb you can think
of, then use that strong verb instead.
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“Everyone else does it” is not an excuse! Just
understand that! When I have a lawyer that I’m
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working with [and they say] “oh, everyone
does this, I’m going to do it as well”,
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then I say, “are you adding to the problem?
Why are you adding to the problem?” You have a
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choice to write clearly and then the reader
will like your writing, or you can choose
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to write in a confusing way, but don't be
surprised if the reader starts to complain.
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Similarly, “natives use it” is also not an excuse!
Native writers make mistakes as well! Just because
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we are native speakers, just because we come from
a country where English is our first language,
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does not mean we never - I know there's a
double negative there! - it does not mean
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we write perfectly all of the time. It doesn't!
I make mistakes when I write sometimes, people,
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my family, my business clients, my contacts,
whoever it might be, when they write to me,
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they make mistakes as well, okay? Native speakers
make mistakes, therefore “natives use it” is not
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an excuse! Now, I will help you just a little bit,
if you have to use it - and I really recommend
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that you don't - but if you have to use it,
never say “revert back”. Because “revert”
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means “come back” or “respond” or “go back”, and
so “back” is just a repetition. So, this would be,
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“go back back” in this case. So, “revert back
to me” is an English grammatical mistake.
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Okay, time for some questions! Just to show you
how confusing “revert” can be, I would like you to
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rewrite the sentences below this video [only on my
Patreon – links below] using a strong verb - what
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you think the message should be. For example,
“Please revert to me with the signed document”
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could be “Please send back the signed document to
me” or “Please send the signed document to me.”
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When you have a look at my suggested answers [only
on my Patreon], you might see that I come up with
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different verbs to the verbs that you choose,
and that will show you the problem of using
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“revert”. “Revert” is not clear understandable
language. “Revert” is confusing language.
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Okay, try the questions below and once you
have finished, click on my answer video.
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