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Sic for Sick Sentences
We have noticed a dismal new trend: not capitalizing words that need it. Flouting the rules of capitalization is yet another indignity visited upon our
beleaguered language by self-appointed visionaries who seem hellbent on transforming standard English, even though many of them can barely read, write, or
speak it.
From a recent magazine article: “ ‘i am just now noticing how long his arms are. maybe happy people have long arms,’ he emailed
me.”
The writer of this piece chose not to point out that his correspondent should have capitalized “i” and “maybe.” It highlights an
interesting problem: how to alert the reader when a direct quotation is in flawed English.
This is what the bracketed editor’s mark [sic] was invented for. The [sic] mark is found only in direct quotations, always enclosed
in brackets. In formal writing, an author or editor inserts [sic] directly after a word or sentence to notify readers that something is off or
incorrect but is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared (sic means “thus” in Latin). In the passage at hand, the “i”
would be easy to deal with: “i [sic] am just now noticing …”
The “maybe” is more problematic. The use of [sic] has its practical limits. You’d never see “m[sic]aybe happy
people have long arms.” And if the author wrote “maybe [sic] happy people have long arms,” the [sic] would be
so far from the offending m that a reader might miss the point and think the entire word maybe was somehow unacceptable. Nonetheless,
this is the only realistic option where [sic] is concerned.
By not confirming who was responsible for the lowercase i and m, the writer ran the risk that his readers would blame him for the
e-mailer’s lapses. Evidently, this was a risk he was willing to take.
Because of the E-Newsletter's large readership, please submit your English usage questions through GrammarBook.com's “Grammar Blog.” |
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Pop Quiz
These sentences demonstrate bad habits that one sees frequently nowadays. Can you cure what ails them?
1. The real problem in such cases are the criminals.
2. Chocolate is our childrens’ favorite desert.
3. She’s not here- she left an hour ago.
Revised and Expanded Blue Book Coming Next Month
Thanks very much to those of you who already took advantage of the publisher's generous discount offer on pre-orders of The Blue Book. The discount code glitches experienced by some people in the first week of the offer have been worked out. Your pre-orders should now process smoothly.
If you live in the United States or Canada, order the new edition of
The Blue Book
through Wiley.com and get 30 percent off and FREE shipping. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA
and use discount code E9X4AYY.
For those of you who live outside the U.S. and Canada, although the publisher is not able to offer free shipping, you will get
35 percent off
to help offset your shipping costs. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA
and use discount code E9X4A.
With our best wishes for good grammar,
The team at GrammarBook.com
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The Blue Book of Grammar
and Punctuation by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern
The Authority on English Grammar!
Eleventh Edition Available February 10
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 Wordplay
Every calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted—Taint yours and taint mine.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. The real problem in such cases is the criminals. (It’s not pretty, but it’s correct.)
2. Chocolate is our children’s favorite dessert.
3. She’s not here—she left an hour ago. (Don’t use a hyphen to do a long dash’s work. Note: Some writers space long dashes on both sides, others (as here) use no spaces. Hyphens are never preceded or followed by a space.)
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch. |
