Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 6 down vote favorite

If a quote is rife with errors, can a single [sic] be used at the end of the quote rather than after each error?

She wrote, "Your [sic] making me weigh [sic] to [sic] sleepy."

She wrote, "Your making me weigh to sleepy [sic]."

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote

You should use [sic] after each mistake, in case you introduce a new mistake.

For example, let's say we use the text you've used:

Your making me weigh to sleepy.

If we misspell making,

Your [sic] mkaing me weigh [sic] to [sic] sleepy.

We show that the misspelling was introduced by the quoter.

On the other hand, if we do

Your mkaing me weigh to sleepy [sic].

It attributes the misspelling to the quotee.

share|improve this answer
How does placing [sic] at the very end attribute the misspelling to the quotee? I was under the impression that [sic] meant that the entire quoted passage is the same as in the original source. – Mana Jul 20 '11 at 21:58
2  
@Mana That's correct. I'm introducing a hypothetical example where in quoting the text, we add a fourth error by misspelling "making", which is spelled correctly in the original case. That's the editor's fault, not the fault of the original person who wrote it, so by not placing a [sic] there, readers know that the orignal author of the horrible text was just a tiny fraction less of an idiot. – waiwai933♦ Jul 20 '11 at 22:00
1  
Ah, missed that. I am dumb and can't read and also mixed up quotee and quoter. – Mana Jul 20 '11 at 22:04
2  
I don't see any sense in the idea that you put [sic] after every word known to be erroneous just so any errors not thus flagged can be recognised as later ones made by the current writer. We don't adopt conventions in the expectation of making mistakes. I would just put [sic] after the full stop, letting it apply to the whole sentence. – FumbleFingers Jul 21 '11 at 2:52
Would it be acceptable if I simply correct the spelling? – Epitorial Feb 16 at 14:16

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.