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[xilman]

Originally Posted by Greenbank

From: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sic

"Thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally."

From: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861735210/sic.html

"thus or so: thus or so, used within brackets to indicate that what precedes it is written intentionally or is copied verbatim from the original, even if it appears to be a mistake."

As for its placing within the sentence, it is my own experience that I have nearly always seen it placed after a quoted passage but, in the few cases where it is used to indicate intentional misuse, it has been placed before the appropriate word.

I do not have access to my copies of the OED or Chambers right now (they are at home and I am in the office) so I can quote only the entry in the Concise OD. Here it is in its entirity and with formatting reproduced to the best of my ability:


sic /sik/ adv. (usually in brackets) used, spelt, etc., as written (confirming, or drawing attention to, the form of quoted or copied words). [L, = so, thus]


No mention there of intentional misuse.


Paul

[Greenbank]

I'll save you the hassle. The Online version of the 20 volume OED (second edition) says:-

"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."

Still, the OED is no Académie française. I'll be interested to see what Chambers says.