Also,
in someone else's shoes;
in someone's place or stead . Acting for another person or experiencing something as another person might; in another's position or situation. For example,
If you were in my shoes, would you ask the new secretary for a date? or
In your shoes I wouldn't accept the offer, or
Can you go to the theater in my place? or
He was speaking in her stead. The idioms alluding to
shoes, with their image of stepping into someone's shoes, date from about 1700 and are generally used in a conditional clause beginning with
if. Stead, dating from the 1300s, and
place, from the 1500s, are used more loosely. Also see
fill someone's shoes;
put someone in his or her place;
take someone's place.
Also,
in lieu of;
in place of;
in someone's stead. In substitution for, rather than. For example,
She wore a dress instead of slacks, or
They had a soprano in lieu of a tenor, or
In place of soft drinks they served fruit juice, or
The chairman spoke in her stead.
Instead of dates from about 1200;
in lieu of, which borrows
lieu, meaning "place," from French, dates from the late 1200s;
in place of dates from the 1500s; and
in someone's stead from the 1200s. Also see under
in someone's shoes.