Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
substitute (v.)
Everyone agrees that to substitute means “to put or act or use in place of” when used with for: We substituted skim for whole milk. She substituted for the regular teacher. Sometimes imagination can substitute for money. But some people strongly object to the use of substitute with or by to mean “to replace, to take the place of,” as in We substituted Reynolds with Cummings at tackle. The question is, who went in for whom? Some would argue that Reynolds came out and that Cummings replaced him. Others would insist that only Reynolds for Cummings is unambiguous, and that with or by creates an ambiguity. Even so, the use of substitute with these prepositions meaning “to replace” has long been frequent in American English, although many Standard users avoid it, and Edited English usually insists on using substitute for. The curious fact is that although this sense has been in use for three centuries, it still has not achieved full and unquestioned status as Standard in the eyes and ears of some lexicographers, perhaps in part because commentators have fussed so about it. The Oxford English Dictionary (1989) says flatly that substitute is used incorrectly to mean “replace,” but most American dictionaries at least tacitly accept it. Be aware, then, that some people may still object: unreasonable or not, the objection has lasted long enough to suggest that it may last still longer.
