Learn English – Alternate word for impersonate in terms of Items or things

grammarsentenceverbsvocabulary

Well actually I'm searching for the right word for a particular scenario or maybe behavior.

Suppose I go to a shop and ask for an item but they don't have it. Now the sales person's priority is to make a sale and he impersonates
(I know it's not the right word) another item and tells me it's what I'm looking for.

What word do I use in place of impersonation?

Best Answer

Apparently, you're happy with a multi-word verb.

The MWV 'fob off', which is transitive (compulsorily separable with pronouns: fob us off) can take a with- (prepositional) phrase, is perhaps the best choice; I'd say it's informal rather than slang:

The sense is spelled out at Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010

.2. fob off

a. to induce someone to take (something inferior)

I asked for 'Bogdan', but he tried to fob me off with 'Sergei'.

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