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Just a note- aid and abet are two different things- aid means assist, abet means encourage.

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Isn't encouragement a kind of assistance, though? Close enough to be classified (by people smarter than I) as a legal doublet.

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They are both modes of criminal liability, but if I hand you the weapon to hit someone with, or, once you are hitting them, I say 'hit them some more', those are very different WAYS of assisting, the latter really stretching the meaning of assist...Also, it is usually 'aid OR abet', minimizing its doublet: here is an extract from the Canadian Criminal Code using 'or':

21 (1) Every one is a party to an offence who

(a) actually commits it;

(b) does or omits to do anything for the purpose of aiding any person to commit it; or

(c) abets any person in committing it.

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This may be a US/Canada distinction. As far as I can tell, it's always "aid AND abet" in the US. Definitely in California, where I live. https://www.lacriminaldefenseattorney.com/legal-dictionary/a/aiding-and-abetting/

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I've always thought it was strange that sports commentators will refer to a team as a "franchise" — it seemed to be emphasizing the financial/business aspect in a way that I didn't think sports fans would prefer. It never occurred to me that that use might actually be older than the chain store/restaurant use!

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Haven’t heard it in that context...

Then there’s the word “disenfranchise,” which we hear more and more about these days.

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