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when you go to the past and want to return to your present time.

Literally that's true, as in the 1985 movie with the phrase as its title. But as the term has come to be used it simply means going back to a past practice in the present. Why one wouldn't simply say "back to the past" is indicative of just how powerful an influence popular culture has on everyday speech, at least in English, without our realizing the source, like The Bible and Shakespeare once did.

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