This has bugged me for a number of years and the English language is full of less often or rarely used words so I thought I'd finally ask this question.
Take the a situation where an artist mistakenly smears paint across a canvas while hanging it and leaves. He means to come back and completely paint over the mistake, but someone walks by and notices it and attributes it to genius. The artist is surprised at this, but doesn't correct the guest and accepts the praise.
Is there a word for accepting credit for an unintended action?
Another example would be a person who says something and it's considered hilarious by everyone around them. They didn't mean it that way, but they accept the credit for the wit without correcting the audience.
This has happened often enough in my life that it really bugs me that I haven't found a single descriptive word meant for this type of situation. As you can tell from the number of words I'm using to describe this, there's an obvious need for a single word in these cases.
Best Answer
Cash in comes to my mind. I know it is mostly used in financial contexts, but it might work well in the situations you mention.
'To a certain extent, he's cashing in on the latest literary fad.'
Opportunism is also a good fit, as Gnawme suggests.