They are distinct things that are interrelated. Like the pressure and temperature of a gas. Distinct things to measure and understand, yet one tends to affect the other unless you're very careful. In the topic of this thread, it's very important to make the distinction: an accusation is not a false just because it doesn't follow the stereotypical definition. So we need to be clear when we're talking about false accusations, ie if we're not talking about incorrect definitions - but real malicious or erroneous false accusations. And that's an important facet of this discussion because although it's quite small and similar to other crime accusations; this particular type of false accusation is very hard to defend oneself against and it can ruin lives. And even more importantly, can make it harder for real victims, especially when you add on the problem where different people have different definitions of the crime.