Question: How Would I change this function from changing only the letters to change the entire word? I believe I have to change the ch in the code (for ch in newString: ) but I don't know what to.

```
replacements = {
'TOMORROW': 'TMR',
'ABOUT': 'BOUT',
'PLEASE': 'PLZ',
'BEFORE': 'B4'
}

def replace(newString):
old,new = [],[]
for ch in newString:
    if replacements.get(ch):
        newString = newString.replace(ch, replacements.get(ch))
    print(newString)

```

Answer: 
You didn't try this? 

```
UPDATE tableX
   SET columnY = substr(columnY, 2, 10 ) ;

```

-Paul-
There is no need to specify the length, as is evidenced from the following simple test harness:

`SELECT $1
 ,SUBSTR($1, 2)
 ,RIGHT($1, -2)
 FROM VALUES
 ('abcde')
 ,('bcd')
 ,('cdef')
 ,('defghi')
 ,('e')
 ,('fg')
 ,('')
;`

Both expressions here - **SUBSTR(<col>, 2)** and **RIGHT(<col>, -2)** - effectively remove the first character of the <col> column value.

As for the strategy of using UPDATE versus INSERT OVERWRITE, I do not believe that there will be any difference in performance or outcome, so I might opt for the UPDATE since it is simpler. So, in conclusion, I would use:

`UPDATE tableX
 SET columnY = SUBSTR(columnY, 2)
;`