Comments on: Using [sic] Properly

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:08:13 +0000

Yes, these less common uses are given in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. I tend to favor The Chicago Manual of Style and The AP Stylebook, commonly referenced by writers, which emphasize using sic for misspellings, errors, or peculiar usages.

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:25:20 +0000

Your usage is incomplete. Following unquoted text, authors uncommonly may insert sic to indicate ironic use. Quoted or not, sic is used to indicate a surprising or paradoxical word, phrase, or fact that is not a mistake and is to be read as it stands.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 02:02:30 +0000

You do not actually correct the error. You leave the incorrect word and only italicize and put sic in brackets.

Example: She wrote, “The dogs ate there [sic] food.”

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:03:49 +0000

How do you correct the error. Would it be appropriate as follows: [sic correction]? Do you italicize sic and the corrected word or just sic?
Thank you.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:49:07 +0000

I don’t know of a rule about this. It would certainly be proper to put [sic] after each quoted error. If the error is not within a quote, you may just correct it entirely in your draft or at least after the first notification of an error in the original.

By: Eb Roell

Eb Roell — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:17:07 +0000

If the same mistake is made several times in a document – in this case eight times in a long paragraph – is it proper to put [sic] behind every one or just behind the first occurrence?

Thank you.