Sic (Latin)

Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus" or "so", used inside brackets or parentheses– or (sic)–to indicate that an unusual (or incorrect) spelling, phrase, or other preceding quoted material is intended to be read or printed exactly as shown, and is not a transcription error.

Related Topics:
Latin - Bracket - Parentheses

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This may be used either to highlight an error, often for purposes of ridicule or irony (for instance, "Dan Quayle famously miscorrected a student's spelling to 'potatoe' ") or to show that an uncommon or archaic usage is reported faithfully (for instance, quoting the U.S. Constitution, "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker...").

Related Topics:
Dan Quayle - Potatoe - U.S. Constitution - House of Representatives

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In folk etymology, "sic" is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be an abbreviation of "spelled incorrectly" or "spelling is correct".

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