to have only recently realised..

[TheQueenOfDiamonds]

What the phrase "birthday suit" means... Ffs!

Sic is used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original.

It is the complete opposite to spelling is correct...

NB is from the Latin, Nota bene, used to indicate that special attention should be paid to a particular point.

Oh sic has reminded me ...

What does it mean when you see [some word] in the middle of a sentence?

'I was out walking when [I saw] an old school friend...'

Oooops, I just got the Smarties thing

sic means 'as was written' and shows the reader that the original source was wrong, not the writer, so

Today on MN there was a thread about flamin' yon (sic) shows that I know that's not how you spell filet mignon but if I don't reproduce the spelling you won't get the joke.

Yes I often see (sic) when reading interviews with people. Makes sense now! Thanks.

That means that whoever transcribed or edited the text has slightly altered what the person they are quoting said for clarity.

For example, if a journalist quotes someone who says 'I saw him, and he was beating up that poor victim', it might appear in the paper as 'I saw [the defendant] and he was beating up that poor victim', to clarify who 'him' was.

[brackets] means you have filled in words that were not in the original quotation but that need to be there to help the reader make sense.

Square brackets are usually used when a portion of what someone said is being quoted, but an absolutely literal quote of the passage would lack context.

x posts

Almost brilliantly at that!

Oh thank you

My adult stepson rang me yesterday as I was on my way back from a trip to the Netherlands..

him "where are you now?"

me "Dunkirk"

him "oh, I didnt realise you were going to Ireland too"

Not sure if I should get him geography lessons or history lessons really..

Hah, that's good. Although Dunkirk, what with the 'kirk' ending, does sound like it ought to be in Scotland. Tell him Duinkerken instead, that's what it's called in Dutch - might help :o

When I was about 7 my Dad came home with an old sack, (for some unknown reason...) and told my Mum 'I got the sack!' cue much hilarity
It took me until my twenties before I realised that a) Dad was joking, and still had his job, (and Mum had taken the news remarkably well...)
and b) you didn't actually get given a sack when you were fired from your job

Nota bene

To Note well

Sorry for some
reason it didn't update with the latest posts

Haha! See, I'm not as bright as I make out.

Oh guano.....that did make me chuckle!! :)

Hang on. Is Dunkirk in the Netherlands??? again

Nono Wilson, don't worry, it's not! Sorry to confuse you there. It's sufficiently close to the Belgian border to have a Dutch alternative name though.

But it's not in...France?

It is in France, very close to the Belgian border. The French call it Dunkerque.

Dunkirk is in France but PP is probably crossing the channel from France and travelled there from the Netherlands on the way home :)

Thank you Naoko. Who cares about Smarties, I have geography!

I had a friend who couldn't understand the tunnels thing either. She once asked why "the people who built the Channel Tunnel didn't get wet?". No matter how many times we have explained to her how it works she still doesn't get it There were many other blonde (her words) moments but the tunnels is the thing that sticks out the most.