|
Post by Tara on Feb 7, 2005 9:20:48 GMT -5
Okay, I have this stupid question that I haven't bothered to ask yet. Maybe you guys might know the answer. I've been wondering...how come when important documents are quoted such as the U.S. Constitution or something they have these weird sentences where there are a series of periods like people aren't sure wheat they are going to say or something? Here, I'll give an example:
15th Amendment, article 1: "The right... to vote shall not be denied or abridged... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Why?
And another question is what does (sic) mean and when do people use it?
|
|
|
Post by littlepea on Feb 7, 2005 10:48:34 GMT -5
the "..."s mean that there are words in between that are being skipped out so that they can make the quote more brief and to the point. it would be wrong, however, to use it like this: "The right ... to vote shall ... be denied or abridged ... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" - cos that isn't what the article 1 of the 15th amendment says. it's just to show that there's some clauses skipped out so it's easier to understand the point you're getting across. (sic) is used when you are quoting something and it means that the spelling mistake contained in the quote is intentional as that's how the original author spelled it. so, if i'm quoting in one of my uni essays i might say: "the 15th Amendment, article 1 says: 'The right... to vote shall not be denied or abridged... on account of race, color [sic], or previous condition of servitude'." cos in britain we spell "colour" correctly
|
|
|
Post by Tara on Feb 7, 2005 16:29:41 GMT -5
Okay, thank you.
|
|
|
Post by Tigress on Feb 10, 2005 4:36:44 GMT -5
cos in britain we spell "colour" correctly Yup, here as well. It's colour, neighbour, honour, etc. Them dãmn Yankees, bãstãrdizing the King's english.
|
|
|
Post by littlepea on Feb 10, 2005 7:38:53 GMT -5
i love canadians ;D
|
|
|
Post by Tara on Feb 10, 2005 9:21:31 GMT -5
Them dãmn Yankees, bãstãrdizing the King's english. God damn us. ...
|
|