Everything about Sic totally explained
Sic is a
Latin word meaning "thus", "so", "as such", or "just as that". In
writing, it's placed within square
brackets and usually
italicized—[
sic]—to indicate that an incorrect or unusual
spelling,
phrase,
punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced from the quoted original and isn't a
transcription error.
It had a long vowel in Latin (
sīc), meaning that it was pronounced like the English word "seek"; however, it's normally anglicised to /'sɪk/ (like the English word, "sick").
Overview
The word
sic may be used either to show that an uncommon or
archaic usage is reported faithfully: for instance, quoting the
U.S. Constitution:
» The House of Representatives shall chuse [
sic] their Speaker...
or to highlight an error, sometimes for the purpose of ridicule or
irony, as in these examples:
» Warehouse has been around for 30 years and has 263 stores, suggesting a large fan base. The chain sums up its appeal thus: “styley [
sic], confident, sexy, glamorous, edgy, clean and individual, with it's [
sic] finger on the fashion pulse.”
It is also sometimes used for comic effect:
» The
Daily Mail was the first newspaper [
sic] …
If text containing a quote is itself quoted in a third text, it may not be possible for a reader to tell whether any "[
sic]" in the inner quote was added by the writer of the second text or the writer of the third text, or whether the anomaly highlighted was introduced by the first writer or the second.
The expression "[
sic]" is also used by physicians to communicate to pharmacists that a prescription is to be filled "just so," for example precisely as described, for example when the dosage or volume is atypical or when the pharmacist shouldn't substitute one brand for another even when the
active ingredient is the same.
The word
sic is sometimes erroneously thought to be an
acronym from any of a vast number of phrases such as "spelling is correct", "same in
copy", "spelling intentionally conserved", "said in context", or "sans intention comique" (French: without comic intent). These "
backronyms" are all
false etymologies.
Derivation
In the
Italo-Western Romance languages it was the basis for their word for "
yes":
sí (
Spanish),
sim (
Portuguese),
sì (
Italian),
si (
French for "yes, on the contrary").
Medieval Latin sometimes used
sic as "yes", reflecting the Romance usage.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sic'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://sic.totallyexplained.com">Sic Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
