Sic alludes to the Latin expression "sic erat scriptum", which translates as "thus it was written."
Sic is a Latin word that can be translated as “like this.” Its use in our language is linked to the expression sic erat scriptum , which means “this is how it was written.” In this way, sic is used as an adverb in writings to clarify that a phrase or word mentioned is textual .
When a person writing a text includes, usually in parentheses , the adverb sic, what they are doing is indicating that what was said was expressed in that way by another individual. This way he justifies misspellings , grammatical errors or erroneous data , which he mentions in his text, knowing that what was said is wrong, but respecting it because it is a literal expression from another person.
Examples of sic
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 feel like wasting time on stupid things' (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 .
The term sic is used to indicate that something was literally said that way.
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 on purpose 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 from the United States or Australia, for example, it also often appears to point out that certain inconsistent phrases or spelling mistakes were made by the person interviewed and not by the person who signed the article.
Its use in the press
The Royal Spanish Academy suggests the use of the word sic in italics, that is, sic ; However, in the press it is much more common to find it in round letters, just like the rest of the words. This is unusual when writing terms from other languages, and may be because it is required to be enclosed 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 abbreviation period (as is the case with "etc.").
One of the particularities 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 errors of Spanish speakers, which must always be accompanied by (sic) if a journalist wishes to publish them without correcting them, are the following:
* dequeism , which consists of using the double "that" when only "that" should go (for example: "He told me to leave" );
* add an "s" to the end of verbs conjugated in the second person singular of the Past Perfect Simple of the Indicative mood (for example: "Why didn't you tell me s before that Carlos was coming?" );
* reverse the order of the pronouns "se" and "me", so that "se" is at the end (for example " I have dropped my watch" ).
The list goes on, and also includes misspellings, incorrect uses of certain tenses, and vulgar forms of words such as "croqueta" ("cocreta"), "albóndiga" ("almóndiga"), and "dentífrico" ("dentrific").