IN LIEU: “instead” — New Oxford American Dictionary
You can’t get any more succinct than that. I would have never thought in lieu, as “I accepted store credit in lieu of a refund,” would be in question. Then, on May 5, I receive this email:
And in lieu of today’s date, the baby’s name will be Juanita Margarita.
You see, a colleague had just given birth and another colleague thought, it being Cinco de Mayo, the baby should have a Spanish name and — oh, screw it. The point is: WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT IN LIEU OF MEANS IN HONOR OF?
The best explanation I can think of goes back to days in lieu or lieu days — work days that one takes off in lieu of a holiday or in lieu of compensation for overtime. So maybe because in lieu days are in recognition of hard work —no, you know, this is just out of control. Once FYI starts meaning “just in case,” anything goes! Black is white! Right is wrong! The expedient brown fox leveraged an overt trajectory per the dog! Free! I’m free of true meaning! Woo hoo! Ni! Ni!
Otto will be on sabbatical until further notice. Cards and prayers are appreciated. Thanks. — ed.
Seen on the Wikipedia article about the Family Guy Empire Strikes Back parody:
“As the Imperial Fleet approaches, a Star Destroyer deploys Elroy Jetson, from the animated sitcom The Jetsons, along with a series of probe droids. Elroy Jetson then proceeds to the Little Dipper School, __in lieu of__ the original intro to The Jetsons. “