What do the letters sic mean when in a newspaper article?

Answer 1

"Sic" is Latin for "thus." Yeah, that didn't clear it up for us either. But apparently, since the 1880s, writers have used [sic] next to quotations that include errors.

This little notation means, "Hey, I know this quote looks wrong, but it was that way when I found it, so don't blame me." Maybe the original text used archaic spelling or the original writer just messed up. But the person who's quoting that text is aware of the earlier mistake and wants you to know it.

Answer 2

If there is a misspelling or poor grammar in a quote, and the person citing the quote wants the quote to read exactly as it was stated or written, they will put (sic) after the error to show that the mistake was made by the person who originally said it, and not by the person repeating it.

Answer 3

Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus", "so", or "just as that". In writing, it is italicized and placed within square brackets — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, or other preceding quoted material is a verbatim reproduction of the quoted original and is not a transcription error.

This may be used either to show that an uncommon or archaic usage is reported faithfully (for instance, quoting the U.S. Constitution, "The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker...") or to highlight an error, often for the purpose of ridicule or irony (for instance, "Dan Quayle famously changed a student's spelling to 'potatoe' [sic]"), or otherwise, to quote accurately whilst maintaining the reputation of the person or organisation quoting its source.

In folk etymology, "sic" is sometimes erroneously thought to be an abbreviation of "spelling is correct", "same in copy", "spelled incorrectly", "spelling incompetent", "said in context", "stupid in context", "stand incorrect", or "spelling intentionally changed", "sans intent comique", to cite but a few backronyms.

Answer 4

It means that the writer is embarrassed at having to quote something precisely because it is ridiculous, illogical or ungrammatical or otherwise might expose him to criticism. "Sic" means "thus" in Latin. When used in a newspaper article the message amounts to "Look, I know this is wrong, but that's what was actually said and I have to quote it this way."

Answer 5

sic : usually printed within brackets in quoted matter (within a newspaper article or similar) to show that the original is being faithfully reproduced - even though apparently incorrect.

Answer 6

it's usually used when someone quoted used poor grammar. by placing (sic) in the sentence, it tells the reader that it wasn't the journalist who used the faulty language.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Usually used when a journalist is quoting a third party who has used a word in other than its strictly correct way - meaning "exactly what s/he said - his/her mistake not mine"

Answer 9

From the Latin word sic which used to me "it is so...".

Answer 10

It's Latin for "so" or "thus", meaning that something is used or spelt as it has been written, either confirming or calling attention to the way that thing has been written.

And spelt is spelt correctly, thank you