Sic
2412780
222646359
2008-06-30T12:26:56Z
164.111.27.13
/* Overview */
{{other uses|SIC}}
'''''Sic''''' is a [[Latin]] word meaning "thus", "so", "as such", or "just as that". In [[writing]], it is placed within square [[bracket]]s and usually [[Italic type|italicized]]—[''sic'']—to indicate that an incorrect or unusual [[spelling]], [[phrase]], [[punctuation]], and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced [[wiktionary:verbatim|verbatim]] from the quoted original and is not a [[transcription error]].<ref name="cgsau">{{cite book |url=http://www.bartleby.com/68/67/5467.html |chapter=sic (adv.) |title=The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. |first=Kenneth G. |last=Wilson |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=1993 |accessdate=2007-06-15}}</ref>
It had a long vowel in Latin (''sīc''), meaning that it was pronounced like the English word "seek"; however, it is normally anglicised to /'sɪk/ (like the English word, "sick").
== Overview ==
The word ''sic'' may be used either to show that an uncommon or [[Archaism|archaic]] usage is reported faithfully: for instance, quoting the [[U.S. Constitution]]:
:The House of Representatives shall chuse [''sic''] their Speaker... <!-- Note that the spelling "chuse" is the point of this quote - do not correct it to "choose" -->
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 <!-- Don't correct this either. --> it's [''sic''] finger on the fashion pulse.”<ref>{{cite news |first=Anne |last=Ashworth |title=Chain reaction: Warehouse |url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,26930-2234374,00.html |work=[[The Times]] |date=[[2006-06-21]] |accessdate=2007-01-06 }}</ref>
It is also sometimes used for comic effect:
:The ''[[Daily Mail]]'' was the first newspaper [''sic''] …
If text containing a quotation is itself quoted in a third text, it may not be possible for a reader to tell whether any "[''sic'']" in the inner quotation 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. One way to show the source is to add "(bracketed material in original)" or a similar parenthetical reference at the end of the quotation.
The expression "[''sic'']" is also used by physicians to communicate to pharmacists that a prescription is to be filled "just so," i.e. precisely as described, for example when the dosage or volume is atypical or when the pharmacist should not 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 (written)|copy]]", "spelling intentionally conserved", "said in context", or "sans intention comique" (French: without comic intent). These "[[backronym]]s" are all [[false etymology|false etymologies]].<ref>{{cite news |title= What does (sic) mean? |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-23558,00.html |work =[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=2007-05-12}}</ref>
==Derivation==
In the [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western Romance languages]] it was the basis for their word for "[[yes]]": ''sí'' ([[History of the Spanish language|Spanish]]), ''sim'' ([[History of the Portuguese language|Portuguese]]), ''sì'' ([[History of the Italian language|Italian]]), ''si'' ([[History of French|French]] for "yes, on the contrary").
[[Medieval Latin]] [[sic et non|sometimes]] used ''sic'' as "yes", reflecting the Romance [sic] usage.
== See also ==
{{wiktionarypar|sic}}
* [[Sic semper tyrannis]]
* [[Sic transit gloria mundi]]
* [[List of Latin phrases]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]
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