New Muslim Pleads, "Don't Call Me a 'Revert' 'Cuz It's Offensive, 'Kay?"

The New True Believer lays it all out here:

The problem comes, then, in deciding what to call these people who accept Islam later in life. If we are not to call them “converts”, what are we to call them? 

Unfortunately, in rightly rejecting the word “convert”, many Muslims have settled for using another word which is quite unsuitable and, to many who have accepted Islam, quite offensive. 

In the English language, we usually use the word “revert” to mean taking a step backwards in life. People can revert to a life of crime, for example, or they can revert to smoking. In English usage, we don’t usually revert to something good. It has a very negative connotation. So how can we possibly refer to those who embrace Islam with their hearts and minds as “reverts?” 

The one who first coined this term to refer to New Muslims was probably not familiar with English as a first language. The idea is correct, that people are returning to Islam, but the word is not – and it can do more harm than good.

I think the New Muslim is being a tad hypersensitive. And if, as he says, "we don't usually revert to something good," how does he account for the Muslims, both old and new, who want to "revert" to the way things were done back in the time of Islam's founder and his "rightly guided" successors?

Okay, I get it--you don't want to be called a "revert" (which you must admit is much better than being called, say, a "pervert").

Would "baal teshuvah" be completely out of the question?