law和decree的区别（律师的咬文嚼字）

本文对有关字、词作一定程度的咬文嚼字，辨明其中的细微差别，是为了讨论法律上与虚假陈述和欺诈有关的问题而作的准备工作。间接的，本文的讨论，也与知假买假的职业打假有一定的关系。

deception,Deceit,fraud这3个名词均含有“欺骗”之意。三个词语气由轻及重。deception:语气较弱，一般用词，侧重于行为本身，有时并无恶意，只是玩弄把戏，故弄玄虚而已。deceit:指歪曲实情，惯于说谎或蓄意欺骗。偏重行为“恶”的性质。fraud:一般指较严重的民事欺诈和刑事诈骗。

Deceit is a shorter and more energetic word for deceitfulness, indicating the quality; it is also, but more rarely, used to express the act or manner of deceiving. The reverse is true of deception, which is properly the act or course by which one deceives, and not properly the quality; it may express the state of being deceived. Fraud is an act or series of acts of deceit by which one attempts to benefit himself at the expense of others. It is generally a breaking of the law; the others are not. [Century Dictionary]

欺骗、欺诈、诈骗和deception、deceit、fraud的对应关系，大致可以体现为：

动词“deceive”表示故意地欺骗、蒙骗他人，从而让对方相信一件原本虚假的事情是真实的。“Deceive”的名词形式是“deception”欺骗、欺诈；形容词形式是“deceptive”；再有，一个欺骗他人的人就是“a deceiver”骗子。“deceive”突出欺骗、蒙骗一个人，让对方相信一件原本虚假的事情是真实的。

一般来说，deceit比deception语义要严重一些。deceit暗示着恶意，或者更简单地说，是一种贬义。deception更中性。虽然deception一般与消极活动有关，但它本身并不意味着邪恶。例如，魔术中就有deception行为。另一方面，deceit主要用于一些包含恶意的东西。如果你说魔术师的行为是在deceit，你会暗示这是一件坏事。并不是说他只是耍了把戏，而是说他的把戏不受欢迎。

体会一下以下两句话的区别：

The magician employed a careful deception to make the car disappear.

The magician employed a careful deceit to make the car disappear.

第一个听起来像是平常的把戏，第二个听起来像是他偷了汽车的。英语中有许多差别细微的单词，这种差异并不总是相关——但在某些情况下，这种差别可能是非常重要的！

牛津词典对Fraud的第一个释义是“wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain。”Fraud是一种比较严重的行为，轻则构成民事欺诈，重则是刑事诈骗罪行，而Deceit则并不必然。Deceit 的用途更广泛，相比fraud也较少跟经济或个人利益挂钩，比如 deceitful lover。

另外，Deceit 和fraud还体现意图上的差别。Fraud包含从他人身上骗取钱财获利的目的，而deceit的并不必然包含这种目的。

举例：

I can deceive you regarding my education, but I am not defrauding you by doing so. If I falsely represent myself as a medical doctor, though, and sell you fake medicine based on that deceit, I am now defrauding you.再如：

A woman could say, "You've deceived me all these years. When you said you were working late at the office, you were with her." 这个句子中如果使用"Defrauded" 替代"deceived" 则会让人感觉有些怪怪的。

一个银行经理可能说"The businessman defrauded us out of $100,000." 虽然也可用"deceived", 但听起来也有些怪怪的。

deception、deceit、fraud这3个名词均含有“欺骗”之意。deception:语气较弱，一般用词，侧重于具体的骗人行为。但有时并无欺骗行为，只是玩弄把戏，故弄玄虚而已。deceit:指歪曲实情，惯于说谎或蓄意欺骗。偏重指其中“恶”的性质。fraud:一般用于犯罪行为的欺骗，通常指政治或经济活动中的舞弊行为。