I am 22 years old. Is that sick?

“Sic” means “thus” in Latin, and can also be used to signify “yes.” In the case of “[sic]” in brackets inside a sentence or quotation, it signifies:

 — a grammatical mistake;
 — an untruth;
 — sarcasm or disagreement with a so-called fact,
statement, opinion etc.
“Bob wrote: ‘We is all goods peopol [sic].’”

“John Johnson is a deranged man who calls himself ‘Robert.’ Today Robert [sic] went to the library.”

“That leftist Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying, ‘[There is] a vast, right-wing conspiracy [sic]…’”

I hope this clears things up a bit.

Corey Zelinski

[sic] should be used sparingly or it becomes as confusing as the referenced text. It covers up any notion that “you” made the grammatical or spelling error, or whatevr [sic].
The term is most often used by journalists and authors lashed to textual accuracy when quoting or making a personal point or opinion [sic].

qu

O.K., I’m 45 and I guess a dumbass because I’ve always wondered what(sic) meant. Now I know thanks to a couple of not so dumbass people! In addition, I did get some great chuckles out of these post. GET A LIFE!

SIC means spelling incorrect da!

SIC means spelling incorrect…………….

Corey is correct. When I studied high school journalism in the early ‘50’s we were taught that it came from the Latin word for “thus,” but that journalists used it to mean “see in copy.” The implication was, indeed, that some OTHER idiot made the mistake, not you.

Yes, finally I too know what [sic] means! It’s been a confusing 25 years, that’s for sure.

I am so smart, I am so smart, S M R T, I mean S M A R T [sic]…

I just read all your comments on the word [sic]. I need a beer and a nap now.

Feckin internet — although that was quite probably the most boring 2 minutes of my life, i couldnt help but read the whole post.

At least by adding yet another comment i make it that little bit more unbearable for the next reader.

Well, I’m off to patent sic. I think that it could be quite lucritive. At least I would get a couple of bucks from you people.
hmmmm… I wonder if there is a patent on sick too…
We shall see…

Hehe! I just found out that I can patent incorrect spelling too! Woohoo! Drinks for all my friends!

wait wait wait! You are all wrong! [sic] means “the way” in latin, or “the way he said it”.
It mean that the quote was exactly as the person said, and NOT an error on the writer’s part.”
eg:
“You have been warmed [sic].” to show that there is not a spelling mistake in the quote, but that THAT is what the person actaully said.

OK! NOW I can go and patent [sic]! Now that I have the correct usage. Yay! Many people say things every day, AND get quoted! I shall be rich!

I read everything on this page. Three or so said it means “thus.” A couple said “thus, so.” One said “the way.” One very authoritatively said ” … comes from the Latin, “sicut” (meaning is best translated as “as is”).” “Spoken in context” is a good mnemonic. One guy took the time to explain the origin of the abbreviation that uses the same letters and how it has nothing to do with “sic.” Frances really got things off the mark with her discussion of the acroym and barcodes. Mr. Bong, Georgina and Coh3n win my vote for most pointless. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a definitive answer to how to properly use “sic”. Does it have to be used within a quote? Should it be used only with brackets? Seems like it should come right after an offending word. But, how about after an offending sentence or paragraph? At least, anyone who reads this whole thread should never forget the meaning of “sic.” Really, reading this whole thread must have an affect on one’s charma. We should be careful though. Ben laden could be reading this, too.

goodness… Big Ed go here and have all your questions answered… few had parts correct, few were sophomoric and others were just complete morons..here is the link

http://www.askoxford.com/askth…

Thank you all for the most entertaining 15 minutes I have ever spent on the Internet.

51 years old and never used nor had any reason to use, but will make the most of my opportunities to highlight mistakes of others from now on.

i think this discussion has gone a little overboard. if ur gonna explain something, fine, but jeez how many pointless posts does it take before its jut TOO MUCH

lol let me try again: i think this discussion has gone a little overboard.
if ur gonna explain something fine, but jeez how many pointless posts does it take before its just TOO MUCH?

At this point, all of this is just history…

I’ll be sure to use this from now on. Funny how many people found this thing like I did and read this whole boring thred [sic].

Happy that I finally know it.

But I’m only 16, so I checked it before any of you, yay!

Man, what a popular topic, many ppl must read the newspaper… At the time of me writing this, this topic is about 2 years and 5 months old. Thats quite impressive…

You know what it is? It’s the mentality of these people looking for the meaning of sic. WHY are they looking for it? Maybe they’re just picky. And that’s why this thread is so damn long. Go on. Maybe we can form a club of sic people. ;)

Holy Mother of God; I promise to discipline myself to never again Google one of those little nagging questions at the back of my mind during a lazy period at work. I shall now pour some hot coffee in my trousers & get back to work….

After reading all the post on sic I’ve come to a conclusion…. sadly this post could last forever…

I’ve also been wondering what “[sic]” meant for years but never got round to looking it up (“spelling incorrent” seemed the most plausible answer given the context in which it was used, but I was never certain).

Thanks to Google and whatever this site is, I now know. :)

Amazing

Terry come home. All is forgiven. We never meant for you to find this site [sic]. Hopefully, your Prozac is working and you will come back safely.
P.S. We’ve thrown away the computer. (P.S.? Doesn’t that mean ‘Post Script’?….does anyone know?)

Asa,
We have been imortalized on this [sic] site. I am sure that discussions such as these are exactly what the internet was invented for. Think of all the burning questions we could Google, and all the similar discussion threads we could be a part of! I am so excited! And so VERY glad that I, too, am a dumbass and had to research the meaning of … I forgot why I am here!!!

I came here from google as well. Fantastic; I’ve made it inot internet nerd heaven.

Aleluya,

I

stop talking crap… what DOES [sic] mean????

AHHHHhahahahha! Oh! The power of KNOWLEDGE!
(By the way, Asa, PS does mean “Post Script”. And PPS, “Post, Post Script”, etc.)

Arguing on the Internet is like competing in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you’re still a retard.

Pierre,
Here you go…

Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally.
That from Atomica. And further:

Date: ca. 1859 : intentionally so written; used after a printed word or passage to indicate that it is intended exactly as printed or to indicate that it exactly reproduces an original <~said he seed [sic] it all>

blah blah blah, I just wanted to know something, what does stupid F*****G (sic) mean because I see it EVERYWHERE ! After reading all this and partially being totally entertained, partially impressed and partially bored, IT is “A Wrinkle in Time” (recent moovie (sic) sucked but a total great classic book in hindsight to anyone wit (sic) A BRAIN) and IT a nd (sic) all that and DAMN… much ado about fucking nothing…
Bush detractors, Love ya all (sic) Buttt (sic), ya’ll need corrective lenses to sea (sic) the world for what it all really IS ! Do Ya stand UP to bullies (sic ‘er maybe not, you tell me) ? “Er „ let ;em WALK TROD STOMP ALL OVE YER DUMB ACTIONLESS ASS ? ( sic? ))

Anyone wanna go for the Giness book world rccord for a post lifespan? Started December 15, 2001 — ????

p.s.: It only took me 38 years to look up the meaning. Now I no way more than I ever wanted to.

p.p.s.: I’ve left several opportunities for you to use [sic] in your writing if you wanna quote me.

What a wonderful way to waste a morning at work :)

However, in order to keep this post fresh and interesting, let me introduce another question that has been touched on here. What comes after p.p.s.?
I generally believed it to be p.p.p.s., but a rather knowledgable friend of mine tells me it should be p.p.s.s.

Any thoughts?

p.s. I’m 30 and I finally know what [sic] means.
p.p.s. I can’t wait to use it for the first time.
p.p.s.s.[sic] does this count???

SIC “stands for”, “Spoken in Context”.

We all see that the spelling is incorrect,
but fault lies with the original quote
and not the writer who is informing you.

I knew what it was used for, but had been asking people at work what is actually stood for. I guessed it was Latin, so, like most people here put “what does sic mean?” into Google and came here!

So “sic”is Latin for “thus”, but the above guy says it’s “Spoken in Context”. Hmm….

Why did I just waste my time reading this entire post? I suppose I did come away with a contextual meaning for [sic] but no true definition. Good enough for me.

Ahhh…FINALLY. I’d seen it sooo many times and never ever got off my great big ass to find out its exact meaning or origin or what it stood for, etc. And then I was reading some article on BBC News about the Sasser worm dude and there it is…taunting me…[sic]…kinda like…go on…find out what I mean…you know you want to…

…and alas, I acquiesced to its enigmatic charms and now here I am! And the BBC article’s still only half-read ‘cos I’ve just spent God knows how long at this page wading through all this crap. So I’m thinking…mehhh…why not add to the reeds and weeds…

…so there you go. What can I say? It’s just my ba [sic] sense of humour.

Now… Im (sic)

Wizzie, yer [sic] friggin’ [sic] killin’[sic] me!!! luv [sic] ya [sic] — mean it

Now I know, and then some.
Now I have to get ready for work.
Strange that currently a lot of people want to know what (sic) means when for so long, no one was looking.
Something in the air?
And for the few who need to be reminded, please take your trash with you.
Have a great day.

it’s a [sic] world isn’t it

2 days till the subliminal verses comes out
(SIC) SLIPKNOT

This thread has taught me about sic and, more importantly, the meaning of life itself. Thank you Google.

This is [sic] quite funny…
LOL

[sic] = thus
thus = as in
as in = [sic]
Get it?

I saw a word mispelled in a newspaper article the other day and saw [sic] next to it. So today I tried using it myself in a message that I writing. I wrote it as (sic) instead of [sic]. Is it correct to use the left and right bracket symbols to enclose sic and incorrect to use the left and right parentheses?