[Linganth] Substitute x for y

[kathryn Woolard]

I think Robert Lawless asks the right question. I've seen this
pattern in English written by speakers of Spanish as a first
language, including many of my university colleagues.  I believe
"substituir por"  and "substititute for" are faux amis; "substituir
por" is equivalent to the English "replace with."

Kit Woolard




At 11:31 AM -0600 1/31/05, Robert Lawless wrote:
>What country is the chicken person from?
>
>At 10:43 AM 1/31/2005, Ronald Kephart wrote:
>>All:
>>
>>More than twice now, I have gone to our local fried chicken outlet
>>and ordered the 8 or 12 piece dinner, which usually includes some
>>breast, thighs, legs, and wings. While doing so, I have said:
>>
>>"Please substitute legs and thighs for the wings."
>>
>>And nearly every time, the response I get is:
>>
>>"So, you want all wings?"
>>
>>I cannot understand how they can interpret my request in this way.
>>For me, "substitute x for y" should mean that I don't want y, I
>>want x instead. But my wife who seems normal otherwise, agrees with
>>the chicken people. What's going on here?
>>
>>Ron


--
**************************************************
Kathryn A. Woolard		kwoolard at ucsd.edu
Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology, 0532
9500 Gilman Drive
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093-0532

Office phone: 858/534--4639                Fax:
858/534-5946
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