This fallacy occurs when two things are the same in relevant ways, but treated differently for irrelevant reasons. These reasons include relationships, interests and personal feelings.
Rutherford:- You never admit the actual amount of time it takes to finish a job. If you did, your days would be packed.
Tendi: Isn’t that lying?
Rutherford: No, it’s ‘creative estimating’!
“Temporal Edict”
Montgomery Scott relied heavily on ‘creative estimating’; so much so that he came to be known as a miracle worker when it comes to starship repair, consistently getting a major repairs completed in a fraction of the estimated time.
The fallacy occurs here when Rutherford tries to make a distinction between lying in some cases verses others. Presumably, he would say that lying is, on balance, wrong. Nonetheless here he lies to his superiors and justifies it as not lying but ‘creative estimating’.
Rutherford takes a page out of Scotty’s playbook when he says a repair will take five hours when he knows full well it will only take one. Knowing that his claim does not match reality means Rutherford is lying to his superior.
“This isn’t food, it’s candy. It’s practically and accessory.”
Jet Reno
“Terra Firma (Part 2)”
The rule is “no candy in engineering”. Though candy may not be what come to mind when we are planning a meal, candy is, nonetheless, food, not a fashion choice.
Philosophy Through Star Trek 