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Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus", "so", "as such", or "in such a manner". In writing, it is placed within the quoted material, in square brackets – or outside it, in regular parentheses – and usually italicized – [sic] – to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error.^[1]

It had a long vowel in Latin (sīc), meaning that it was pronounced like the English word "seek" (IPA /'sik/); however, it is normally anglicised to /'sɪk/ (like the English word "sick").

[edit] Usage

The word sic may be used to show that an uncommon or archaic usage is reported faithfully:^{[citation needed]} for instance, quoting the U.S. Constitution:

The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker ...

It may also be used to highlight a perceived error, sometimes for the purpose of ridicule, as in this example from The Times:

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."^[2]

On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an abbreviation for "said in context", "spelled in context", "said in copy", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly" and other phrases. These are all backronyms from sic.

[edit] See also

• List of Latin phrases
• Sic et Non
• Sic semper tyrannis
• Sic transit gloria mundi
• Stet

[edit] References