I presume you assume you’ll be celebrating Valentine’s day. And that you presume to assume a card and a gift will show up at dinner.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Assume | Presume |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: assume and presume | |
The Dismantled Slate Tramway by Andrew Bowden is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — I assume this hiker knows he’s approaching a cliff…?? |
Riverfront Kiss by Jerome Strauss is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. — I presume they’re about to kiss… |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Verb, intransitive & transitive
Third person present verb: assumes |
Verb, intransitive & transitive
Third person present verb: presumes |
| To suppose without any evidence
Verb, intransitive: To take something for granted
Verb, transitive: Take or begin to have power or responsibility
Take on a specified quality, appearance, or extent
[Archaic] To take in or receive
|
To suppose based on probability
Verb, intransitive: Be audacious enough to do something
To take something for granted
To act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent boldness Verb, transitive:
[Law] To assume as true in the absence of proof to the contrary To undertake with unwarrantable boldness To undertake to do something without right or permission |
| Examples: | |
| Verb, intransitive: Do not assume. It’s a role she has been invited to assume. “Is Kay’s husband coming to dinner too?” “I assume so.” Verb, transitive: They were assumed to be foreign. You’re afraid of what people are going to assume about me. He assumed full responsibility for all organizational work. The rebels assumed control of the capital. Militant activity had assumed epidemic proportions. Oliver assumed an expression of penitence. She puts on a disguise, assumes a different persona, and cruises the squalid bars on the bad side of town. He was a man living under an assumed name. |
Verb, intransitive: Kindly don’t presume to issue me orders in my own house. Forgive me if I have presumed. She knew he regarded her as his protegée, but was determined not to presume on that. Kindly don’t presume to issue me orders in my own house. He was wary of presuming on the close friendship between them. Don’t presume on their hospitality. Don’t presume on his agreement. Verb, transitive: I presume you’re tired after your drive. The two men were presumed dead when the wreck of their boat was found. The argument presumes that only one person can do the work. The task demands skills that cannot be presumed and therefore require proper training. Everyone should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: assumable, assumed Adverb: assumably, assumedly Noun: assumability, assumer, assumption Verb, transitive: overassume, overassumed, overassuming, preassume, preassumed, preassuming, reassume, reassumed, reassuming |
Adjective: presumable, presuming, unpresumed Adverb: presumably, presumedly, presumingly Noun: presumer, presumption |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Latin assumere, from ad- (towards) + sumere (take). | Late Middle English from the Old French presumer, which is from the Latin praesumere meaning anticipate (in late Latin take for granted), from prae (before) + sumere (take). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions by exploring the index. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, and/or the Properly Punctuated.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Book of Genesis Chapter 22–8 by Jim Padgett is courtesy of Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
