Doug Fisher in his Common Sense Journalism blog decries the now fashionable use of the word presumptive to describe John Kerry’s status as the guy who will run against George Bush unless he is hit by a meteor.
The word, he says, is too easily misinterpreted, not to mention overused.
To prove it, he gave his copy editing class the following sentence and asked them to pick the correct word.
“Smith said it was presumptive/presumptuous to think he’d do that.”
One third picked the wrong word. “It indicates that confusion is just as likely among our readers for whom the daily paper does not come with a dictionary,” Fisher said.
We agree, although our problem is a little different. Every time we see the word “presumptive,” the word “consumptive” jumps into our imagination.
At any rate, “likely” is shorter.