[Ads-l] early "substitute for" = 'replace with'

[Laurence Horn]

> On Sep 21, 2016, at 9:39 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> 1943 Miles Malleson & De Witt Bodeen _Yellow Canary_ (film): Even as I am
> speaking, a great convoy is nearing its destination. Last night, under the
> cover of the fog, Number Four of the convoy, manned by Fifth Columnists,
> was substituted for an identical ship manned by a German crew. On board are
> tons of TNT! The crew will abandon ship, and the time fuse will do its work!
> 
> JL
> 
Looks like a great antedate.  The OED offers this as the only illustration of innovative "substitute for" (s.v. substitute, v., 3b), as opposed to the many it provides for "substitute(d) by/with":

1978   Pop. Mech. Oct. 174/1 (advt.)    Corvette winner may substitute automobile for $14,000 cash.

 (The gloss for this sense is "To fill the place of (a person or thing) with a replacement; = replace v. 2b")

The 1943 passage also considerably antedates the controversial song lyric from The Who's "Substitute" (released as single, 1966; Pete Townsend, lyrics):

Substitute me for him 
Substitute my coke for gin 
Substitute you for my Mum 
At least I'll get my washing done

--or, if you prefer performance rather than citation mode, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswQl-hcvU0.  There's some dispute in the literature about whether the instances of "substitute" in the verse exemplify the relevant lemma (= 'replace...with') or not, but even if you agree with me that they do, that's still well after 1943.  

My problem with Jon's cite is that I don't understand it.  Are we sure, given the context of the war movie, that it's the ship with a German crew that's replacing the original Fifth Columnists' convoy ship and not vice versa?  Jon? Anyone?  Weren't the Fifth Columnists on the same bad-guy side as the Germans?  Do I need to watch "Yellow Canary" to find out? 

LH

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