What Does sic Mean
Sic is a Latin word that can be translated as "thus" . Its use in our language is linked to the expression sic erat scriptum , which means "that is how it was written . " In this way, sic is used as an adverb in the writings to clarify that a phrase or word mentioned is textual .
When a person who writes a text includes, usually in parentheses , the adverb sic, what he is doing is indicating that what was said was expressed in that way by another individual. Justifies misspellings , errors of grammar or erroneous data , you mentioned in your text knowing that this is so wrong, but respecting it because it is a literal expression someone else.
Suppose that the following paragraph is published in a newspaper :
"The president refused to meet with the opposition candidate because 'he is very tired and does not want to waste time over idiocy' (sic), according to a member of his party . "
As can be seen in this example , the journalist who writes the note uses the adverb sic to clarify that the phrase was said literally by another person. In this way, it is justified by the inclusion of an expression that may be rude or violent .
Another example of the use of sic is the following:
“I didn't write anything on the wall: when I got to the living room, the wall was already written (sic). I assure you that I am innocent . In this case, the term sic clarifies that the use of “written” instead of “written” is purposely to respect the literality of the expression .
It is important to note that the term sic is used in other languages, such as English. Thus, when reading the press in the United States or Australia, for example, it also often appears to indicate that certain inconsistent sentences or misspellings were made by the person interviewed and not by the person signing the article.
The Royal Spanish Academy suggests the use of the word sic in italics, that is, sic ; however, in the press it is much more frequent to find it in round print, just like the rest of the words. This is unusual when writing terms from other languages, and may be due to the requirement to enclose it in parentheses or brackets. On the other hand, since it is not an abbreviation but a complete word, it should not be written with an abbreviated period (as is the case in "etc.").
One of the peculiarities of this word and its use in the field of journalism is that readers must know both its meaning and its application as well as the grammatical or semantic rules necessary to be able to discover the error for themselves. This makes it somewhat particular compared to other Latin terms and expressions.
Among the most common mistakes made by Spanish speakers, which should always be accompanied by (sic) if a journalist wishes to publish them without correcting them, are the following:
* The dequeísmo , which involves using the duo "that" when only should go "to" (for example: "I said that I was" );
* add an 's' to the end of conjugated verbs in the second person singular of the Simple Past Perfect of the Indicative mood (for example: "Why didn't you tell me s before Carlos was coming?" );
* reverse the order of the pronouns "se" and "me", so that "stays" at the end (for example " My watch has fallen" ).
The list goes on, and also includes misspellings, misuses of certain verb tenses, and vulgar word forms such as "croqueta" ("cocreta"), "albóndiga" ("almóndiga") and "dentífrico" ("toothpaste").