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Latest comment: 7 years ago6 comments2 people in discussion
Hi @Sirlanz:, I could be wrong, but added [sic] because I've never heard of any Chinese characters without pronunciation or meaning. Could you give me a few examples? Thanks, Keahapana (talk) 20:42, 24 October 2017 (UTC)Reply
We all make mistakes, so I double checked and confirmed that "supposedly have either no sound or no meaning attached to them [sic]" is correct usage. The OED (2009, v. 4.0) defines sic. as: "A parenthetical insertion used in printing quotations or reported utterances to call attention to something anomalous or erroneous in the original, or to guard against the supposition of misquotation." Medhurst's statement is both anomalous and erroneous. Best wishes, Keahapana (talk) 21:53, 25 October 2017 (UTC)Reply
@Sirlanz: Would you please provide some sources or stylebooks that say correct sic. usage is limited to cases of "misprinting, typo or unintentional error"? Neither MOS:SIC nor Sic gives that interpretation. Keahapana (talk) 23:40, 28 October 2017 (UTC)Reply
The term may not be used merely to express doubt or reservation about the veracity of a statement quoted, which is what bothers Keahapana. The term is used to indicate a certainty of unintended error in the quoted material. Additionally, the term must be used with circumspection as it is a flat rejection of the accuracy of the quoted material, an editor comment which places the editor in a position of superiority to the source. I'm not starting an English language school, and materials can be easily sourced online to serve Keahapana's education, so I'll not be going any further with this. sirlanz00:01, 29 October 2017 (UTC)Reply