>>> subs = { ... "Houston": "HOU", ... "L.A. Clippers": "LAC", ... ... } >>> rev_subs = { v:k for k,v in subs.iteritems()} >>> [rev_subs.get(item,item) for item in my_lst] ['L.A. Clippers', 'Houston', '03/03 06:11 PM', '2.13', '1.80', '03/03 03:42 PM']