The Latin adverb sic ("thus"; in full: sic erat scriptum, "thus was it written") added immediately after a quoted word or phrase (or a longer piece of text), indicates that the quoted words have been transcribed exactly as spelled or presented in the original source, complete with any erroneous spelling or other presentation. The usual purpose is to inform the reader that any errors or apparent errors in the transcribed material do not arise from transcription errors, and the errors have been repeated intentionally, i.e., that they are reproduced exactly as set down by the original writer or printer. It may also be used as a form of ridicule or as a humorous comment, drawing attention to the original writer's spelling mistakes or emphasizing his or her erroneous logic. Sic is generally placed inside square brackets, or in parentheses (round brackets), and traditionally in italic, as is customary when printing a foreign word.

Examples[link]

"Professor Smith stated that 'in the Domesday Book of 1087 [sic]' the king held more manors than any other person." The professor had given the incorrect date for Domesday Book (recte 1086) and leaving his error uncorrected followed by [sic] emphasises that the error was his. The professor has thus been somewhat ridiculed. A more diplomatic way of quoting the professor would have been to omit the date altogether whilst retaining the substance of his argument or simply to have corrected it in the knowledge that it was a "slip of the pen". In one early instance, a letter written in July 1876 by Dr. Enoch Mellor to the editor of the Literary Churchman discussed "the cheap insinuation of ignorance which can lie in a bracketed 'sic'."^[1]

Etymology and usage history[link]

Look up sic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Though occasionally misidentified as an abbreviated word, sic is a Latin adverb incorporated into the English-language similarly as an adverb (also used by some as a noun and verb^[2]).

The adverb sic – meaning "intentionally so written", first appeared in English circa 1856.^[3] It is derived from the Latin adverb sīc, which contains a long vowel and means "so, thus, in this manner",^{[4][note 1]} "as such" or "in such a manner".^[5]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the verb form of sic, meaning "to mark with a sic", emerged in 1889, citing E. Belfort Bax's work in The Ethics of Socialism as one of the early examples.^[2] That piece by Bax, "On Some Forms of Modern Cant," had actually appeared even earlier in Commonweal, published in 1887.^[6]

Usage of sic greatly increased in the mid-twentieth century.^[7] For example, in state-court opinions prior to 1944, the Latin loanword appeared a total of 1,239 times in the Westlaw database; in those from 1945 to 1990, it appeared 69,168 times.^[8] The "benighted use" as a form of ridicule, deserved or otherwise has been cited as a major factor for this increase.^[8]

The "immoderate" use of sic has created some controversy, leading some editors, including Simon Nowell-Smith^{[note 2]} and Leon Edel, to speak out against it.^[9]

False etymologies[link]

On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an acronym "s.i.c." for "spelled in context", "said in copy", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly", and other phrases.^[10] These are all backronyms from sic.

Usage[link]

Conventional usage[link]

Sic, in its bracketed form, is most often inserted into quoted or reprinted material in order to indicate meticulous accuracy in reproducing the preceding text despite appearances to the reader of an incorrect or unusual orthography (spelling, punctuation, etc.), grammar, fact or logic.^[8][11] Several usage guides recommend that a bracketed sic be used primarily as an aid to the reader, and not as an indicator of disagreement with the source.^[8][12]

To denote archaisms[link]

A sic may show that an uncommon or archaic usage is reported faithfully,^[13] such as when quoting the U.S. Constitution: "The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker ..." However, various writing guidebooks discourage its use with regard to dialect such as in cases of American and British English spelling differences,^[7][12][14] unless of course used to convey ridicule. For instance, the appearance of a bracketed sic after the word analyse on a book cover led Bryan A. Garner to comment, "... all the quoter (or overzealous editor) demonstrated was ignorance of British usage."^[8] Clearly the quoter would have preferred the U.S. spelling "analyze".

To denote errors of fact or logic[link]

When no orthographic or grammatical irregularities are apparent, use of sic may serve to draw the reader's attention to a factual or logical error. This practice has been favoured by some journalists when reporting Bushisms (slips of the tongue by former U.S. President George W. Bush), even when Mr. Bush's reported remarks were grammatically correct.^[15]

Wordplay & puns[link]

Various wordplays regarding the word sic are possible, arising either from its second polysemic meaning "to attack" or from its homophone sick. The latter case is exemplified by the humorous expression "Poor grammar makes me [sic]" – which has been featured on clothing and postcards.^[16][17]

Another example of this kind of pun can be found in the website TV Tropes, which uses it as an article title^[18] as well as in a letter to the American Journal of Roentgenology criticizing their apparent overuse of sic as a kind of linguistic discrimination against those from a foreign-language background that "could lead readers to become 'sick of your sic'".^[19]

Form of ridicule[link]

The use of sic can be seen as an example of the linguistic device of appeal to ridicule, whether intentional or not, because it highlights perceived irregularities. The application of sic with intent to disparage has been called the "benighted use" because it creates a "false sense of superiority" in its users.^[8] The following example from The Times demonstrates how the interpolation of sic can subtly discredit a quoted statement, perhaps deservedly so, if the following sloppily written statement appeared as editorial in a quality journal:

Warehouse has been around for 30 years and has 263 stores, suggesting a large fan base. The chain sums up its appeal thus: "styley [sic], confident, sexy, glamorous, edgy, clean and individual, with it's [sic] finger on the fashion pulse."^[20]

In newly generated text[link]

While chiefly used in text that is not one's own, occasionally a sic is included by a writer after his or her own word(s) to note that the language has been chosen deliberately for special effect, especially where the writer's ironic meaning may otherwise be unclear.^[21] Bryan A. Garner dubbed this kind of usage of sic as the "ironic use," providing the following example from Fred Rodell's Nine Men:^[8]

[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.

Nonetheless, a writer's use of sic in his or her own words may lead readers to assume the source of the sic to be the book's editor and is often considered unconventional even when the sic "ironic use" reference is correctly understood.

Formatting[link]

When placed within quoted material, square brackets are almost invariably used in modern U.S. usage: "[sic]".^[7] Traditionally the sic appears after the quote in parentheses (round brackets): "(sic)", especially when the error is obvious.^[22] Traditionally the word sic appears italicized within the brackets:^[23] "(sic)", following the convention that usage of italic type serves to indicate foreign words. This academic usage has become rarer in recent times, perhaps because fewer academics are nowadays conversant with Latin, and cannot therefore recognise words from classical languages.^[12] While most style guidelines including The MLA Style Manual do not require italicization, others do, such as the APA Style. The APA Style insists upon the underlining of sic as an alternative when italic type is not available. ^[24]

Because sic is not an abbreviation, it is incorrect to place a period or full-stop inside the brackets after the word sic.^[25][26]

Criticism[link]

Insensitivity[link]

There have been cases of the use of sic having been interpreted as a form of ridicule which have resulted in backlash towards the publications in which they appear. Backlash can also happen as a result of a misplaced sic even when there was no intent to disparage. When the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) quoted a statement referring to an afterlife, then failed to remove a sic after correcting the minor punctuation error it contained, the network received criticism for apparently suggesting that the religious belief expressed was odd or erroneous.^[27] By convention, when no orthographic or grammatical errors are present, the use of sic often indicates the presence of a fallacy or error in logic.^[11]

Linguistic discrimination[link]

Usage of sic has been noted for its potential to effect linguistic discrimination. A letter written to the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) has been cited in the journal's French counterpart, the Journal de Radiologie, highlighting how apparent prejudices among English-language journals may be causing a higher rejection rate of scholarly papers from francophone authors^[28] – a concern because English is the lingua franca for medicine.^[19] In the letter, the AJR was criticized for its frequent insertion of sic when publishing letters written by French and Japanese authors even though its correspondence acceptance policy reserved the right of copy-editing, which could therefore have been used beneficially to correct minor English language errors made by non English-speakers. In response, Lee F. Rogers, the Editor in Chief of AJR, apologized for the possible discriminatory interpretation and offered the following explanation for its decision to insert sic on multiple occasions rather than to copy-edit:^[19]

It is true that our manuscript editors normally remedy errors in the use of the English language to ensure reader understanding and to avoid embarrassing our non–English-speaking authors. However, because of the seriousness of the allegations addressed, we believed that verbatim quotes were necessary. Under such circumstances, we did not think it correct for us to assume the meaning of misspelled words or the intent of the author of the letter in question.

Alternatives[link]

Correction[link]

Various usage guides, such as 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 (if known) in place of the incorrect word.^[8][29]

[edit] Recte

Look up recte in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Alternatively, when both the original and the suggested correction are desired to be shown (as they often are in palaeography), one may give the actual form, followed by sic in brackets, followed by the corrected form preceded by recte in brackets. The word recte, is a Latin adverb meaning "rightly",^[30]

An Iraqi battalion has consumed [sic] [recte assumed] control of the former American military base, and our forces are now about 40 minutes outside the city.^[15]

According to the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music Style Sheet, there should be no punctuation, for example no colon, before the corrected word when using recte.^[31] Sometimes only sic and the correction are in the bracket, becoming as in the last example "[sic assumed]" (i.e. recte is omitted).^[32]

See also[link]

• List of Latin phrases
• Sic et Non
• Sic semper tyrannis
• Sic transit gloria mundi
• Stet

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Marco Simoncelli
Simoncelli during post-season testing at Valencia in 2009.
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1987-01-20)20 January 1987 Cattolica, Italy
Died	23 October 2011(2011-10-23) (aged 24) Sepang, Malaysia
Bike number	58
Website	marcosimoncelli.it
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2010–2011 Manufacturers Honda Championships 0 2011 Championship position 6th (139 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 34 0 2 2 0 264 250cc World Championship Active years 2006–2009 Manufacturers Gilera Championships 1 (2008) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 64 12 22 10 8 701 125cc World Championship Active years 2002–2005 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 0 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 50 2 7 3 1 290 Superbike World Championship Active years 2009 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 0 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 2 0 1 0 0 16

Marco Simoncelli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko simonˈtʃɛlli]; 20 January 1987 – 23 October 2011) was an Italian motorcycle racer. He competed in the Road Racing World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. He started in the 125cc class before moving up to the 250cc class in 2006. He won the 250cc World Championship with Gilera in 2008. After four years in the intermediate class, he stepped up to the MotoGP class with the Honda Gresini Team. Simoncelli died after an accident during the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang on 23 October 2011.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Marco Simoncelli was born in Cattolica but grew up and lived in Coriano with his family since childhood.^[1][2] He started racing minibikes at the age of seven in his hometown of Coriano,^[3][4] moving on to the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1996 at the early age of nine. He won the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1999 and 2000 while also became the runner-up in the 2000 European Minimoto Championship. The following year, he stepped up to the Italian 125cc Championship and he won the title in his rookie year. In 2002, he competed and won the European 125cc Championship.^[5]

125cc (2002–2005)[link]

After a successful European 125cc campaign, in August 2002, Simoncelli made his first Grand Prix appearance with Matteoni Racing, replacing Czech rider Jaroslav Huleš who stepped up to the 250cc class.^[6] Simoncelli, riding an Aprilia bike with the number 37, managed to finish in 27th place in his first race at Brno.^[7] In the following race at Estoril, he scored his first championship points by finishing in 13th place.^[8] However, he failed to score any points in the next four races and finished the season with three points from six races.^[9]

He continued with the Matteoni Racing Team for his first full season in 2003. That season, he also started to use the iconic number 58 on his bike.^[10] He managed to score points in six races with a best result of fourth at Valencia, the last race of the season.^[11] Overall, he scored 31 points and ranked 21st in the final championship standings.^[12]

In the 2004 season, Simoncelli switched to WorldwideRace team under the name of Rauch Bravo, which also run an Aprilia bike.^[13] In the second race of the season at Jerez, Simoncelli recorded his first pole position.^[14] In the race, which was held in wet conditions, Simoncelli was in second place when race leader Casey Stoner crashed out with three laps remaining, handing Simoncelli his first victory.^[15] However, the victory was his only podium finish for the season. He managed to score points in seven other races with a best result of sixth. He ended in 11th place in the final standings with 79 points.^[16]

Simoncelli continued to ride for WorldwideRace in 2005, this time under the Nocable.it Race banner.^[17] In the opening race at Jerez, he qualified first and then won the race for his second successive win at Jerez.^[18] Despite failing to add another win that season, Simoncelli finished on the podium on five other occasions. His consistency earned him 177 points and a fifth place in the final standings.^[19]

250cc (2006–2009)[link]

Simoncelli at the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi

In 2006, Simoncelli stepped up to the 250cc class, becoming the only rider from the top eight in previous year's 125cc class to make the step up.^[19][20] He joined the Metis Gilera team, an Italian motorcycle manufacturer who returned to the intermediate class after a lengthy absence.^[21] His first season saw him finish most races he finished between 7th and 10th place. His best result was 6th place in the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai. He fought for the "Rookie of the Year" title until the end, finally losing to Shuhei Aoyama by seven points, finishing 10th overall.

In 2007 he continued with the same team. His season was similar to the previous one and he was again 10th in the final standings, without a podium finish.

He had his first 250cc win at the Italian Grand Prix held at Mugello on 1 June 2008 in controversial circumstances when, with one lap to go, he leaned to the left on the long straight, possibly to block off Héctor Barberá. Barberá then crashed into him and Simoncelli won the race by 3 seconds. Barberá was lucky to emerge unscathed. Some people called for sanctions but Simoncelli escaped without penalty: on 7 June he received a verbal warning from the MotoGP Riders Safety Commission.

Simoncelli at the 2009 British Grand Prix at Donington Park

On 8 June 2008 he followed up his Italian victory at the Catalan Grand Prix after overtaking Álvaro Bautista on the last lap after Bautista ran wide with 5 corners of the race left. Simoncelli obtained his third 250cc GP victory at the Sachsenring in the Gran Prix Deutchland on 13 July 2008 when he beat Bautista and Barberá by approximately 2.5 seconds. He also won in his class at the 2008 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix held on 3–5 October 2008, narrowly defeating Bautista.

On 19 October 2008 he clinched the 2008 250cc World Championship after finishing 3rd in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

He made a one-off appearance for Aprilia in the World Superbike round at Imola in 2009. He qualified on the second row and was one of three riders to crash out of race one at Tosa while running fifth, before fighting through to third in race two, making a forceful move to overtake team-mate Max Biaggi to get onto the podium.

On 25 June 2009, it was confirmed that Simoncelli would move up to premier class racing for 2010 MotoGP championship after agreeing to ride with the San Carlo Gresini Honda team.^[22]

MotoGP[link]

2010[link]

Simoncelli at the 2010 United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca

Simoncelli got off to a slow start to the 2010 season, having suffered two preseason testing crashes at Sepang; the second of which cracked his helmet.^[23] After finishing eleventh on début, Simoncelli improved over the rest of the season, finishing 16 of the 18 races in the points en route to eighth place in the championship with 125 points. His best finish was a fourth place in Portugal, missing a podium by 0.06 seconds to Andrea Dovizioso.^[24]

2011[link]

Simoncelli at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island

In the 2011 season, Simoncelli was predicted to be the surprise package of the season.^[25] He finished fifth in the season opening race in Qatar, before falling from the lead of the wet race at Jerez.^[26] He secured his highest starting position to that point of 2nd, before falling on the first lap of the Estoril race.^[27] During the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Simoncelli collided with Dani Pedrosa while they were battling for second. The resulting crash saw Pedrosa break his collarbone and Simoncelli received a ride-through penalty, eventually finishing fifth.^[28] Simoncelli initially rejected blame for the crash, claiming he braked no later than normal, and that he left Pedrosa room.^[29] Before the next race, however, he accepted that he needed to reflect on his riding style.^[30]

Simoncelli was required to meet with race direction before the start of the racing weekend at Catalonia.^[30][31] On the track, Simoncelli secured his first MotoGP pole position, 0.016 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner.^[32] However, a poor start saw him drop to seventh managing only to recover one position to finish sixth. Simoncelli earned his first podium in the premier class, with a third place in the Czech Republic.^[33] His best MotoGP finish was second place in the Australian GP at Phillip Island.

Death[link]

Simoncelli, with a towel on his head, on the grid at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix, his incomplete final race.

On 23 October 2011, Simoncelli was involved in a collision with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi during the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit. In fourth position during lap two, Simoncelli's bike lost traction in Turn 11 and it started to slide towards the gravel, but the tyres regained traction and his bike suddenly veered across the track into the path of Edwards and Rossi, with Simoncelli hanging down on the right side.^[34]

Simoncelli was struck in the head and neck by Rossi, in the course of which Simoncelli lost his helmet and Edwards was catapulted from his bike. The race was immediately red-flagged. Edwards suffered a dislocated shoulder; Simoncelli suffered much more severe injuries and was taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre, and at 16:56 local time, less than an hour after the accident, it was announced that he had died from his injuries.^[35][36][37] Later, at a press conference involving members of the MotoGP Race Direction, Medical Director Michele Macchiagodena said that Simoncelli had sustained "a very serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest", and was administered CPR for 45 minutes.^[38]

His body was flown home to Italy, accompanied by his father Paolo, his fiancée Kate Fretti, and Valentino Rossi. The family were greeted by Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Petrucci, before the body was transported to a theatre in Coriano, Rimini, where it was placed in an open coffin. Fans and visitors were then allowed to pay their respects, in a walk-through memorial that included his 250cc World Championship winning Gilera, plus his 2011 MotoGP Honda.^[39] An estimated 20,000 people attended his funeral^[40] at the Santa Maria Assunta parish church in Coriano on 27 October 2011, which was broadcast live on Italia 1 and Rai 2.

Legacy[link]

On 3 November, the Misano World Circuit announced plans to rename itself in honour of Simoncelli.^[41] At the final Grand Prix of the 2011 season in Valencia, Spain, a tribute lap on race morning was held in honour of Simoncelli, with riders from all three Grand Prix classes taking part along with 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz, who rode Simoncelli's bike.^[42]

Tributes were made in Formula One with Jenson Button dedicating his performance in the 2011 Indian Grand Prix to Simoncelli and IndyCar Series driver Dan Wheldon, who died at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the weekend before, during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship.^[43] A minute's silence was held at the Grand Prix in memory of Wheldon and Simoncelli. At the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, along with other members of the team paid tribute to Simoncelli by returning to turn 11 and having a group photo with a banner in remembrance.^[44]

On the same day of the accident, all Serie A football matches in Italy held one minute of silence in remembrance of Simoncelli as instructed by the Italian National Olympic Committee President Gianni Petrucci.^[45]

On 20 January 2012, the anniversary of Simoncelli's birth, it was announced at a ceremony in his home town Coriano that the town's sports area would be renamed "Palazzetto dello Sport Marco Simoncelli", and that one of the town's tram routes would be re-numbered 58 in his honour.^[46]

Career statistics[link]

Grand Prix World Championship[link]

By season[link]

Races by year[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship[link]

(key)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Simoncelli, Marco; Beltramo, Paolo (2009) (in Italian). Diobò che bello!. Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-59241-9. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marco Simoncelli

• marcosimoncelli.it Official website (Italian)
• Marco Simoncelli at Gresini Racing
• Marco Simoncelli at MotoGP.com