Twitter
Email
RSSWhat Does [sic] Mean?
Samm [sic] asks “What does [sic] mean?”
Sic in square brackets is an editing term used with quotations or excerpts. It means “that’s really how it appears in the original.”
It is used to point out a grammatical error, misspelling, misstatement of fact, or, as above, the unconventional spelling of a name.
For example, you might want to quote the printed introduction to a college catalog:
Maple Leaf College is well-known for it’s [sic] high academic standards.
Sic is the Latin word for “thus,” or “such.”
When John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln and jumped from the balcony to the stage of Ford’s Theatre, he is said to have shouted “Sic semper tyrannis!” He meant “that’s what tyrants get;” literally, “Thus always to tyrants.”
Another common Latin expression you might come across is sic transit gloria mundi. It means “thus passes the glory of the world.” It’s a thought that might occur as one stands by a crumbling pyramid or where the Twin Towers once stood in New York City.
Where I grew up, people who wanted a dog to attack said “sic ‘em!” I’ve seen it in a dictionary spelled “sick,” as in “sick him!” This use is first recorded in 1845 and may come from a dialectal version of seek, “to look for” or “to pursue.”
Got Your Free eBook?
- Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips and you will be able to download our free ebook: Basic English Grammar.
- You will also get all our grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing tips.
- The download link will go along with the first email (you might need to wait up to 24 hours).
Related Articles
- No related posts
Pity that Samm [sic] didn’t feel it appropriate to close his quotation marks in his opening line.
I have always wondered. Thanks.
I always thought it was an abbreviation for “Spelling Is Correct.”
I’m also an idiot.
Eric,
No, but you ARE a creative thinker!
We use this quite a bit when working on academic papers. Often, the client will be quoting a source that has a grammatical or spelling problem. We use [sic] to indicate that the error is in the original source, not in the client’s ability to quote the source accurately.
Just came across this example in a BBC story online.
—In a web posting they added: “no doubt that our attacks can be significantly improved, since we used relatively unexpensive equipments [sic].” —- The writers wanted to show that they know it should be “inexpensive equipment.” The person being quoted is not a native speaker.
I think I read on this site that someone believed “sic” to stand for “said in context”. That’s how I’ve always remembered it, even if it’s not a direct translation, the point remains.
Hey Eric…I thought the same thing. “Spelling Is Correct” just makes more sense, huh?
Oh, really. Good to know. For some reason, I thought the same thing as Eric and Jeff. I even took Latin for 4 years in high school, I should have known better…
I had previously thought it was an acronym for “Spelled InCorrectly”. Hah. I guess I never thought about that one.
I always wondered what this meant, I always see it in Anne Rule’s books and have asked several people what it means and no one seems to know. Then I got the brilliant idea to google it! Thanks people
I had always assumed it was an acronym as well. Something like “Sentence in context” or “Statement in context.” Meaning that in the original context of the article, the errors and omissions of the quotation make sense. With whoever is writing the article adding in things like [T]his and [A. Nonymous, 1987] into the quote make it more readable.
Hi, I’m new and thank you for your very informative column. I’ve already learned so much.
I too, always wondered what [sic] means, and now you’ve cleared it up for me. I love the, “said in context” explannation, I’ll keep that in mind. love your column and thank you!
Thank you for this…I have been seeing this a lot on the web lately and wondered what it meant. I have even used the word “sic em, Sam” before without ever knowing where it came from.
Sara
Nice post! Not to put too fine a point on it, but “sic” is italicized (though the brackets are not).
Reading a news article about an interview with Dick Cheney brought me here. He called Osama bin Laden “Obama” {sic.}
Had to know what it meant. Thanks.
I always thought that “Sic em” meant “Stick it to them”.
What about “ad hoc”? I, too, see that used in articles but have no idea what it means.
the right phrase often comes in handy in sticky situations…….
To CC, ad hoc is a networking term where you share a network connection from one network adapter to another network adapter on the same computer. Common applications of this are to have a desktop that is near a modem that is receiving a wired internet signal that it can then share through a wireless adapter to other computers around a household.. Not the best method but it’s a quick fix to router issues.
But if you read it in an article, I guess it might have another meaning.. According to wikipedia-
“Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means “for this [purpose]“. It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and which cannot be adapted to other purposes.”
Thanks, I had to look up what [sic] meant after reading an article.. I knew what it meant but I thought that putting [sic] after something meant that the original persons mistake made them literally sick. xD
It’s good to know; Could you post a little glossary of this kind of “acronyms” and what they stand for in Latin and in English
like eg. ie. ps. sic and so on thanks
Thanks a lot Maeve for the link and your reply
I heard a long time ago it was an acronym for “Spelling InCorrect”. That made sense usually because if you looked carefully you could find something wrong with the spelling or grammar somewhere. {sic}
Thanks for the info. Its good to finally know what it really means!
@Tirk:
Ad hoc does not come from computing, and is more usually used elsewhere. The term means ‘For this’, usually to mean a unique use for a given scenario.
Therefore, it is used in computing to mean that something is created for each scenario (as you go along), just like in many other contexts (long before computing) to indicate that something is being created for purpose, for example someone speaking without a script in a given situation creates their speech ad hoc; for the purpose of the situation.
@ #2 (Eric),
I always thought the same. “Spelling is Correct”. So I guess you’re not the only idiot.
Coming from a military background, I have always understood this acronym to mean “Staff In Confidence”. However when reading articles, it just does not make sense in that context. Thankfully I now know what it means thanks to you Maeve.