"substitute with" again

[Laurence Horn]

>  >>The image is based on a story in which Nichiren encounters a
>>>beautiful woman who reveals her true form as that of a seven-headed
>>>serpent, but in this painting Hokusai has substituted the serpent
>>>with the more familiar dragon.
>
>To me, such statements are at least initially ambiguous, but
>the recent discussion here suggests that I should read them
>like this: "has replaced the serpent with the more familiar
>dragon" - am I catching on? Does "substituted" equal "replaced"?
>
Yes it does, in this context.  No serpent in painting, yes dragon.
And despite Arnold's assurance that this variety of "substitution" is
relatively old hat (no double entendre intended, as I guess we'll now
have to keep saying), it's not something I'm aware of having
encountered in formal writing until relatively recently.

larry

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org