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23-546: Sic , as the label " [sic] " found immediately following a copy of text, indicates that a use that may seem erroneous is in fact transcribed faithfully. Sic , SIC , etc., also may refer to: Sic We are prepared, under appropriate circumstances, to provide information bearing on the credibly [ sic ] and veracity of any such source. Irin Carmon quoting a law firm The Latin adverb sic ( / s ɪ k / ; thus , so , and in this manner ) inserted after

46-529: A sic' , emerged in 1889, E. Belfort Bax 's work in The Ethics of Socialism being an early example. On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an acronym (and therefore sometimes misspelled with periods): s.i.c. is said to stand for "spelled/said in copy/context", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly", and other such folk etymology phrases. These are all incorrect and are simply backronyms from sic . Use of sic greatly increased in

69-549: A colleague's opinions written in the new format. Garner says that one of the main reasons for the reform is to make legal writing more comprehensible to readers who lack a legal education. That has attracted opposition, most notably from Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit , and from his co-author, Justice Antonin Scalia . Since 1992, Garner has contributed numerous revisions to

92-441: A parenthetical sentence only when used after a complete sentence, like so: ( Sic. ) Some guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style , recommend "quiet copy-editing " (unless where inappropriate or uncertain) instead of inserting a bracketed sic , such as by substituting in brackets the correct word in place of the incorrect word or by simply replacing an incorrect spelling with the correct one. Alternatively, to show both

115-406: A quotation did not arise from editorial errors in the transcription, but are intentionally reproduced as they appear in the source text being quoted; thus, sic is placed inside brackets to indicate it is not part of the quotation. Sic can also be used derisively to direct the reader's attention to the writer's spelling mistakes and erroneous logic, or to show disapproval of the content or form of

138-411: A quotation indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated as found in the source text, including erroneous, archaic, or unusual spelling, punctuation , and grammar . Sic also applies to any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might be interpreted as an error of transcription . The typical editorial usage of Sic is to inform the reader that any errors in

161-814: Is also a lecturer at his alma mater, the University of Texas School of Law . He is the founder and chair of the board for the American Friends of Dr. Johnson's House, a nonprofit organization supporting the house museum in London that was the former home of Samuel Johnson , the author of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language . Garner was born on November 17, 1958, in Lubbock, Texas , and raised in Canyon, Texas . He attended

184-575: Is important but non-bibliographic. He opposes references such as "457 U.S. 423, 432, 102 S.Ct. 2515, 2521, 89 L.Ed.2d 744, 747" as interruptions in the middle of a line. However, such interruptions in judges' opinions and in lawyers' briefs have remained the norm. Some courts and advocates around the country have begun adopting Garner's recommended style of footnoted citations, and a degree of internal strife has resulted within some organizations. For example, one appellate judge in Louisiana refused to join in

207-403: Is most often inserted into quoted or reprinted material to indicate meticulous accuracy in reproducing the preceding text, despite appearances to the reader of an incorrect or unusual orthography ( spelling , punctuation , grammar, syntax, fact, logic, etc.). Several usage guides recommend that a bracketed sic be used primarily as an aid to the reader, not as an indicator of disagreement with

230-679: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit before he joined the Dallas firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal. He then returned to the University of Texas School of Law and was named director of the Texas/Oxford Center for Legal Lexicography. In 1990, he left the university to found LawProse Inc., which provides seminars on clear writing, briefing and editing for lawyers and judges. Garner has taught at

253-611: The University of Texas School of Law , the UC Berkeley School of Law , Texas Tech University School of Law , and Texas A&M University School of Law . He has been awarded three honorary doctorates from Stetson , La Verne , and Thomas M. Cooley Law School . He serves on the Board of Advisers of The Green Bag . As a student at the University of Texas School of Law in 1981, Garner began noticing odd usages in lawbooks, many of them dating back to Shakespeare . They became

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276-643: The University of Texas at Austin , where he published excerpts from his senior thesis, notably "Shakespeare's Latinate Neologisms" and "Latin-Saxon Hybrids in Shakespeare and the Bible". After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree, Garner entered the University of Texas School of Law , where he served as an associate editor of the Texas Law Review . After receiving his Juris Doctor degree in 1984, he clerked for Judge Thomas M. Reavley of

299-497: The correct form when using recte . A third alternative is to follow an error with sic , a comma or colon, "read", and the correct reading, all within square brackets, as in the following example: Item 26 - 'Plan of space alongside Evinghews [sic: read Evening News] Printing Works and overlooked by St. Giles House University Hall', [Edinburgh] Bryan A. Garner Garner serves as Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law . He

322-656: The field of procedural rules, when he began revising all amendments to the sets of Federal Rules ( Civil , Appellate , Evidence , Bankruptcy , and Criminal ) for the Judicial Conference of the United States . Garner and Justice Scalia wrote Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges (2008). Garner maintains a legal consulting practice, focusing on issues in statutory construction and contractual interpretation. Garner's books on English usage include Garner's Modern English Usage . This dictionary

345-499: The following example from Fred Rodell 's 1955 book Nine Men : [I]n 1951, it was the blessing bestowed on Judge Harold Medina 's prosecution [ sic ] of the eleven so-called 'top native Communists,' which blessing meant giving the Smith Act the judicial nod of constitutionality. Where sic follows the quotation, it takes brackets : [ sic ]. The word sic is often treated as a loanword that does not require italics, and

368-657: The material. In the English language, the Latin adverb sic is used as an adverb, and derivatively as a noun and as a verb. The adverb sic , meaning 'intentionally so written', first appeared in English c.  1856 . It is derived from the Latin adverb sīc , which means 'so', 'thus', 'in this manner'. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the verbal form of sic , meaning 'to mark with

391-639: The mid-20th century. For example, in United States state-court opinions before 1944, sic appeared 1,239 times in the Westlaw database; in those from 1945 to 1990, it appeared 69,168 times, over 55 times as many. Its use as a form of ridicule has been cited as a major factor in this increase. The immoderate use of sic has created some controversy, leading some editors, including bibliographical scholar Simon Nowell-Smith and literary critic Leon Edel , to speak out against it. The bracketed form [ sic ]

414-552: The original and the suggested correction (as they often are in palaeography ), one may give the actual form, followed by recte , then the correct form, in brackets. The Latin adverb recte means rightly . An Iraqi battalion has consumed [ recte assumed] control of the former American military base, and our forces are now about 40 minutes outside the city. According to the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music Style Sheet , there should be no punctuation, for example no colon, before

437-436: The source material for his first book, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (1987). Since 1990, his work has focused on teaching the legal profession clear writing techniques. In books, articles, and lectures, Garner has tried to reform the way bibliographic references are " interlarded " (interwoven) in the midst of textual analysis. He argues for putting citations in footnotes and notes that in-text information that

460-420: The source. Sic may show that an uncommon or archaic expression is reported faithfully, such as when quoting the U.S. Constitution : "The House of Representatives shall chuse [ sic ] their Speaker ..." However, several writing guidebooks discourage its use with regard to dialect, such as in cases of American and British English spelling differences . The appearance of a bracketed sic after

483-487: The style manuals of New Zealand, Australian and British media outlets generally do not require italicisation. However, italicization is common in the United States, where authorities including APA Style insist upon it. Because sic is not an abbreviation, placing a full stop /period inside the brackets after the word sic is erroneous, although the California Style Manual suggests styling it as

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506-440: The word analyse in a book review led Bryan A. Garner to comment, "all the quoter (or overzealous editor) [sic] demonstrated was ignorance of British usage". Occasionally a writer places [ sic ] after their own words, to indicate that the language has been chosen deliberately for special effect, especially where the writer's ironic meaning may otherwise be unclear. Bryan A. Garner dubbed this use of sic "ironic", providing

529-598: Was the subject of David Foster Wallace 's essay "Authority and American Usage" in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays , originally published in the April 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine . In 2003, Garner contributed a chapter on grammar and usage to the 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style , and later editions have retained it. In 1995, Garner became the editor-in-chief of Black's Law Dictionary . He created

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