I'm having a brain cramp: if cookies should be avoided, and carrots are preferable instead, is it correct to say:
Avoid cookies in favor of carrots.
or if not, what's the correct way to phrase?
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An emerging phrase, and a book title, is Eat This, Not That.– bibCommented Sep 26, 2013 at 0:36
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Avoid biscuits in favour of carrots? Yuk.– user52780Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 12:23
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1 Answer
I would just say that one is advised to “prefer carrots to cookies.”
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Downvoted. Nothing personal; rather, preference is part of one's makeup, so it cannot be advised. One can hardly be advised to like something more than something else. To opt for something? Yes. But not to prefer it. Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 2:10
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@TaliaFord I don’t understand. When choosing foods, you should prefer this over that in your choices.– tchrist ♦Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 2:31
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If you include some expression contaning choose or choice, that's a whole different thing. But just by itself, it's not logical to say "You are advised to prefer A to B." or, as is more common in the US, "...A over B." Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 2:52
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This must be quite confusing for a non-native speaker. The verb 'prefer' takes on an altogether different meaning when used in the imperative in this way. Unless one is speaking with deliberate irony, I would tend to avoid such imperatives. In the case of a food item such as this, how can you instruct someone what to 'prefer', since preference is personal to them.– user52780Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 12:31