Adventures in India

First, "Revert", as in "Kindly revert your response to this email." What!? Now, I can tell what they want me to do here. They want me to reply, but why not say reply? Or for that matter respond, return, get back to me? Revert means to return to a previous condition, so how am I supposed to "revert" an email, and seriously, how am I supposed to revert a response that I haven't even written yet?

Second, "Only". Now this is not used incorrectly every where, but it is used much to often, sometimes quite out of place. The one the interests me the most is its use in contracts. Now on our lease agreement, I love its use. It basically states that we will pay "x rupees only". Perfect. No confusion, no increase, no problem. However, it is also used in our employee agreements. At first glance I didn't think much of it, but it is interesting that the employee is basically signing that they will never make more than that amount. No bonuses, no reimbursements, no gifts. You signed it, punk! Now, I doubt I'll treat it as such and I don't think it is meaningful in this culture, but it amuses me. The last example I have of this was "Do not urinate on this wall only." I'll let you muse over that one.

Last, "Always" (or similar words) as in "Do not drink and drive always". The statement above with "only" was written is spray paint, probably by a disgusted owner, on a fence. However, "Do not drink and drive always" was a metal sign attached to a police posting. Once again, I can figure out what they are trying to get across, but why did they add the "always" at the end? Are they saying that it is ok to drink and drive sometimes? As long as you can prove that, at least once, you didn't?

Oh well, at least Lorenda will be comforted knowing that I have loved her always and only.