Question: I understand that questions that could potentially be answered by using the dictionary are frowned upon however there are multiple words that I see for cheating, which have overlapping meanings because English isn't very precise.

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PzyI9m.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PzyI9m.jpg)

I've included this picture mostly because this comes from a Russian-English Telegram channel and it doesn't appear to be right. In the video, the man is using the dog to read the newspaper and beneath that, it says, *обманывать*. *обманывать* to my [understanding](https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C) means to deceive someone through lies. Cheating also can be breaking rules in a game to gain an advantage which seems like *жульничать*.

In English, we may even call this a life-hack. Alternatively, it seems like I could use *изменять* as well. Is this correct?

Answer: 
The situation in the picture can be described with different Russian verbs, but *обманывать* is definitely **not** one of them. For a native Russian speaker the combination of the picture and *обманывать* looks weird and practically inexplicable, it is like one of difficult IQ test puzzles, barely to be solved without the knowledge that it was an English speaker that associated the verb with the picture and that the connection of *обманывать* and the picture lies in a partial overlapping of the meaning of *обманывать* and an English verb that the author of the picture used to call the situation. It looks like ***to trick*** is the English verb.

A Russian verb that fits well the situation in the picture is [изворачиваться](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F#Verb), particularly the meanings

3. *(figuratively) to find a way out of a predicament, to be resourceful*

and

5. *(figuratively, colloquial) to use cunning or **trickery**, to contrive*.

*Обманывать* [means](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C#Verb)

1. *to deceive, to cheat, **to trick**, to swindle*
2. *to disappoint, to let down*

As for me, the best verb I would use for the picture is [*выкручиваться*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F#Verb), especially in the expression *выкручиваться из сложного положения*. Note, that both *изворачиваться* and *выкручиваться* are associated not with deception, but with twisting and turning around in order to find a way from a complicated situation, these two verbs do not have connotation as negative as *обманывать* has.
Maybe they used the word 'обмануть' because the boy in the picture didn't want his meal to be eaten by the dog and gave him a newspaper to gag his mouth) If it's true 'обмануть' is ок, but I would use a synonym 'обхитрить' here. Because 'обмануть' is stronger and has a more negative meaning. Обхитрить is a derivative from хитрый (sly) and closer 'to trick'.