Good question for the devs. "git apply-reverse-patch" was probably too long for a fairly common operation? I suppose when you are trailblazing with a new paradigm, you are allowed to redefine things. I don't let those kinds of things bother me, personally; I just adapt my thinking to the new thing I am learning. Helps me to learn new languages easier.
It's kind of a silly guessplanation, but I have a feeling that Linus Torvalds made the call and it stuck. I don't know anything about the people who actually maintain Git, though.
