Thanks for the response -- two comments below:
On Sunday, April 07, 2019 08:53:16 AM Erik Christiansen wrote:
> Not the boys in blue, by any chance? Station sergeants tend to plant
> that lesson early in a rookie's consciousness, I hear.
No -- a large steel company that went out of business around 2000, built the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge, and a ship a day for a period of time (something like 2 years, iiuc) during WWII. (Bethlehem Steel)
> > I still use the word, but use the "(I know)" as a defensive mechanism to
> > stave off the expected response.
>
> Given that the implication of "assume" is to take something on faith,
> without supporting evidence, a safer word might be "surmise". A guess
> with an implication of thoughtful deliberation behind it leaves little
> for the overly opinionated to gnaw on.
Good suggestion, thanks!
Just looking for the definition of assume -- I don't think I ever looked it up (never had to, I was always given the definition, as explained elsewhere ;-), this is one (there are others, some relate to things like "assuming responsibility", for example:
<quote>
Assume | Definition of Assume by Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assume
Assume and presume both mean "to take something for granted" or "to take something as true," but the words differ in the degree of confidence the person assuming or presuming has. Presume is used when someone is making an informed guess based on reasonable evidence. Assume is used when the guess is based on little or no evidence.
</quote>
Anyway, based on this, i might also consider "presume" as an alternative to assume.