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Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

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PUNCTUATION<br />

words italics mine, italics added or emphasis added, in brackets.<br />

For an illustration of this, see "Underscoring a Point in a Quote"<br />

under "Italics" on page 284.<br />

Under some circumstances, it may suit your purposes better <strong>to</strong><br />

follow the text with an explicit comment in brackets; obviously,<br />

however, this is more intrusive. Other times, it will be best <strong>to</strong><br />

simply present the entire quote in an uninterrupted way and have<br />

your comments follow.<br />

• If a quotation contains a misspelling, misused word or factual<br />

error, you may want <strong>to</strong> make it clear <strong>to</strong> your readers that it's not<br />

your slip. <strong>The</strong> convention is <strong>to</strong> follow the offending text with the<br />

Latin word sic, which means "thus" or "so" (<strong>essential</strong>ly, this is<br />

saying it appeared thus in the original-I didn't mistranscribe it!).<br />

Traditionally, this word is italicized and enclosed in brackets, although<br />

one sometimes sees it appear in roman type and/or in<br />

parentheses. It is always in lowercase.<br />

In his statement, the education minister said: "Grammar standards in our<br />

schools <strong>to</strong>day is [sic] slipping sadly, and I intend <strong>to</strong> do something about<br />

this."<br />

<strong>The</strong> time is immanent [sic] for a popular uprising.<br />

He won great acclaim in the Battle of Britain in 1941 [sic], and after the<br />

war went on <strong>to</strong> a distinguished political career.<br />

You may sometimes want <strong>to</strong> put sic after an unusual term or<br />

spelling that was used deliberately, in order <strong>to</strong> assure readers that<br />

the nonstandard word isn't a typo.<br />

<strong>The</strong> band's new album, Total Waist of Time [sic], contains little that is<br />

original.<br />

Usually, however, such exceptions will speak for themselves.<br />

<strong>The</strong> advantage of sic is that it provides a relatively unobtrusive<br />

way of pointing out errors. However, it must be used with discretion;<br />

applying it <strong>to</strong>o enthusiastically can make you look overly earnest or<br />

even obnoxious. Don't s<strong>to</strong>op <strong>to</strong> adding it just <strong>to</strong> get in a little jab at an<br />

author's ignorance or <strong>to</strong> draw attention <strong>to</strong> errors that are irrelevant or<br />

trivial. If the error is a misspelling, it may be best <strong>to</strong> just quietly fix<br />

it, unless the blooper is somehow relevant. If the quote is from a<br />

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