&gt;&gt; Firstly, I didn&#x27;t accuse them of cheating. &quot;X-but-not-X&quot;, under my understanding of idiomatic English, refers to something that&#x27;s X in spirit but not technically X, or vice versa. The former was what I was going for. &lt;&lt;<p>Given your stated understanding, you still accuse them of cheating in spirit.<p>In ordinary English you equivocate, to have your cake and eat it too.