I know what the word means, but I’m unsure how to use it in a sentence. In my native language, Danish,“backorder” translates to “Restordre” and when something is unavailable, we say it’s"i Restordre",which translates directly into English as “in backorder”, but I’m not sure that’s correct English. Do English people say that or just “backordered” or something else?
“Backordered” or “On backorder” are the normal usages as an adjective.
But “In backorder” would also be perfectly understandable.
“on backorder”.
“Backorder” is an operational status, so it’s like saying “on fire”, “on duty”, “on order”, or “on patrol”.
“It’s backordered” or “It’s on backorder.”
Everyone was giving the right answer here, but not why. (Edit: oops, must have missed the response by intensely_human!)
The preposition “on” is used with “backorder” because it indicates a state or condition of something. For example, we can say “on fire”, “on hold”, “on sale”, “on hiatus” or “on display” to describe the situation of something.
The preposition “in” is used to show the location or position of something, such as “in the box”, “in the car”, or “in the city”.
The preposition “for” is used to show the purpose or reason of something, such as “for fun”, “for work”, or “for sale”.
Therefore, “on” is the most suitable preposition to use with “backorder”.
(but as someone else noted, you probably wouldn’t confuse anyone if you said “in” or “for”.)
In teresting
Why always "in"teresting, but never "on"teresting? /s
Except for “in flux”, as a description of a state of being
Or in pain, in understanding, in accordance with, in support of, in disbelief, etc.
English in a nutshell. Here is a rule. It always works except in this 300 million examples when not. I hate it.
Just remember each individual word and phrase in the English language, easy peasy!
I’d argue that “on” is used more when something physical and specific is happening rather than a concept happening
That just means “inside the flux capacitor”. Like an abbreviation.
Not necessarily. When a situation is “in flux” it is changing or unstable.
And we could say “in backorder status”. Thank gods I was born to English and didn’t have to learn it.
Thank god I grew up around a lot of English content because learning any other language has been nigh impossible even if their closer related to my mother tongue.
Backorder has a less permanent meaning than unavailable. It generally means the retailer is out of stock until the next delivery. Reasons can vary, but that’s the broad idea.
Oh I should clarify that it’s specifically for retail products. If you’re in an area with no cellular signal, you would say “cell service is unavailable” rather than “cell service is backordered.”
“Sorry, that product is currently on backorder. I can add you to the list if you’d like.”
“The product launch was a huge success, it’s currently backordered!”
At my job if a product is currently sold out but still taking new orders we say it’s currently “on backorder”
I use Australian English, it’s common for people to use either “backordered” or “on backorder” here.
Central/West US. I would say: The laptop is backordered. It is on backorder.
I went to buy that part for the dryer at the appliance parts store. The clerk told me they don’t have it and when he went to order it from his supplier they told him it’s on backorder but hope next months shipment will have them.
I already paid for it and the supplier will send it to the appliance store when the back ordered part is available.
I would say “it’s on backorder”. You could verb it as “it’s been backordered”, but that feels a bit clunky somehow.
You can also use it in place of the word “order”. As in, “I have a Backorder I’d like to check on.”
