<p><strong>proxy</strong>: 'the authority to represent someone else, especially in voting' is "<strong>代理</strong>" or "<strong>代理人</strong>" in Chinese</p>

<p><strong>surrogate</strong>: 'a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office' is also "<strong>代理</strong>" or "<strong>代理人</strong>" in Chinese</p>

<p>The baseball term "<strong>代打</strong>" (substitute batter) also obtained the meaning of '<strong>substitute</strong>' (for any role)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>For the sake of clarity, let's say you wanted to kill someone, but wanted someone else to do it for you.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>借刀殺人 is a common idiom for "arrange someone to kill for you". It literally means "borrow knife to kill" and the "borrowed knife" is someone other than yourself. He can be your willing agent, or an unwitting pawn</p>

<p>假手於人 is a common idiom for "make someone else to do your job" </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-10T14:18:20.927Z
Fantastic, detailed answer, thank you Tang Ho. I'll have a think about which one is the most appropriate
valoukh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-10T12:27:50.453Z
2019-02-10T12:27:50.453Z
Tang Ho
<p>Please forgive my lack of knowledge of Chinese. I'm doing book research and am looking for the most appropriate word for 'proxy' in the sense of a <em>substitute</em> or <em>surrogate</em>. For the sake of clarity, let's say you wanted to kill someone, but wanted someone else to do it for you. (I'm not looking for the word for hitman or assassin; it needs the above connotations.)</p>

<p>替代 seems to be the closest I've found, but I want to avoid any confusion or the meaning being misconstrued!</p>

<word-choice><writing>
Most appropriate word for proxy/substitute/surrogate
# Most appropriate word for proxy/substitute/surrogate

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-10)

Please forgive my lack of knowledge of Chinese. I'm doing book research and am looking for the most appropriate word for 'proxy' in the sense of a *substitute* or *surrogate*. For the sake of clarity, let's say you wanted to kill someone, but wanted someone else to do it for you. (I'm not looking for the word for hitman or assassin; it needs the above connotations.)

替代 seems to be the closest I've found, but I want to avoid any confusion or the meaning being misconstrued!

**Tags:** word-choice, writing


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-02-10. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

**proxy**: 'the authority to represent someone else, especially in voting' is "**代理**" or "**代理人**" in Chinese

**surrogate**: 'a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office' is also "**代理**" or "**代理人**" in Chinese

The baseball term "**代打**" (substitute batter) also obtained the meaning of '**substitute**' (for any role)

> For the sake of clarity, let's say you wanted to kill someone, but wanted someone else to do it for you.

借刀殺人 is a common idiom for "arrange someone to kill for you". It literally means "borrow knife to kill" and the "borrowed knife" is someone other than yourself. He can be your willing agent, or an unwitting pawn

假手於人 is a common idiom for "make someone else to do your job"

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Fantastic, detailed answer, thank you username_1. I'll have a think about which one is the most appropriate  

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