Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 13:46:09 +0000

From: David Bergdahl bergdahl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU

Subject: Re: change of a ten



I've been wondering what the confusion was--the expression "change for a

dollar [bill]" seems so utterly transparent to me--but this post makes

me see that other places must allow bus drivers to make change rather

than take tokens [the more common route], transfers or exact change.



"I *vas* dere, Sharley", and I remember the situation; and I'll hesitantly suggest an alternative

explanation for the

difference between "of" and "for" here. Normally you ask "Do you have change for an

X(-coin/bill)?" when you are

paying someone an amount, y, that is considerably less than (the value of an) X. The intended

recipient need not have

$X in smaller units to be able to answer "yes" and give you your change, only $(X - y). But on

the bus you are not

asking the driver, who cannot give you change, but other passengers; and you are asking if they

can give you exactly

$X in appropriate smaller units so that you can give the driver y (leaving you with X - y).* And

that may be the

difference that the change in preposition was meant to capture: "Can you give me X in change,

in EXchange for an X?",

rather than "Can you give me the difference between X and the value of my purchase, in

exchange for an X and my

purchase?"



_____________________________________________________________________

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