The use of "sic"

[_Sethbag]

We talked about this recently when I brought it up. I hate the way it's used almost all of the time in this modern era of cut and paste. In decades past, when any quotations in works were re-typed by hand, it may well have performed a useful function, but ever since copy-and-paste became the nearly universal way quotations are done, it no longer is needed, IMHO, and hence becomes an ad hominem strike at a person's spelling or writing skills.

[_zeezrom]

I like the use of sic when quoting Joseph Smith and other frontiersmen who weren't well educated. It reminds us of how he was just a simple farmboy who was called to do God's work.

It is a good thing Joseph Smith didn't go "sic" crazy while translating the Book of Mormon. Otherwise, we would see [sic] next to lots of references to things that seem anachronistic today. An example would be the Reformed Egyptian word for obsidian club. Instead, Joseph Smith just did what he felt would be best: replace the word he didn't understand with "steel".

[_lulu]

Academically, I think the trend is away from it and towards making a general statement in an introduction as to how non-standard, outdated usages or mistakes in originals will be dealt with, a more specific statement in a foot or endnote or entering a clarifying spelling of the word in question in brackets.

In deed, it meant that the transcriber was not making an error but that it was so in the original.

But now there is a better realization that usage and spelling was not standardized (even if a person was "educated") and that such has also changed over time. So the best historical practice is to just leave things as they are because, well, that's how they are. Then if a modern reader might not understand, to clarify with a bracket or a note.

The goal is to be historically accurate and clear to the modern reader at the same time. The use of "sic" or using it very much, doesn't do much on that front.

What do you think Congrefs will do on the sequestor?

[_LDSToronto]

Paradise Loft [sic]

Paradise Loft was the name of my pad in my bachelor days.

H.

[_lulu]

How would you deal with this in the body of a text, notes and bibliography:

A Narraitve of the Life of Solomon Mack

http://olivercowdery.com/texts/1811Mack.htm