Please consider the scenario below and let me know which choice fits in the blank and which doesn't and why (I think these two verbs mean the same in this sense and can be interchanged here):
- Convict) They're………, officer, I swear! I would never go to a seedy place like that!
Officer) Oh yeah? Then why did we find your fingerprints there?
a. framing me
b. setting me up
Bringing up this question, I want to know how these two verbs differ from each other?
To frame someone:
to deliberately make someone seem guilty of a crime when they are not guilty, by lying to the police or in a court of law.
SYN set up.
To set someone up:
To make it look like someone is guilty of some crime or wrongdoing:
Best Answer
The two are near identical in use. The slight distinction is that "frame" carries more connotation of an elaborate, thorough, and legally compelling case against someone. The metaphor is that the police and courts are presented with a picture of the supposedly guilty suspect, "framed [and ready for hanging]."*
"To set [someone] up" certainly would not be inappropriate to use for such a thorough deception, but might be used for a more casual and slapdash one. If Suspect A merely casts doubt on Suspect B, Suspect B might say "He's setting me up!"
* Edit: That might be a useful way of understanding it, but the implication of "hanging" might not be part of the history of the term.