sic

ArcaMaxは単語のメルマガで、私が知っている、あるいは意味は覚えていないが見たこと、聞いたことのある単語は１～２週間に一度あるかないかの難しい単語ばかりとりあげていますが、土曜日の配信は平日のように一単語を取り上げるのではなく、英語の表現に関する興味のある記事なのでためになります。　Nov.8の話題を紹介します。
Many words from sports and games have run off the playing field and leaped into the stands of everyday language. And some of these terms have plunked themselves down permanently among the spectators.
This conjures up a ludicrous image, I know. In fact, the word "ludicrous" itself derives from the Latin "ludus" (game, play). A situation that was laughable or hilarious because of an obvious absurdity or incongruity reminded people of the amusement derived from sports, so they described such an odd event as "ludicrous."
One popular "game" during the Middle Ages was to sic several snarling dogs on a bull and watch what happened. Some fun.
If the dogs succeeded in seriously wounding the bull, the bull's owner would often use a barrel stave to drive off the dogs. By the 1500s, "stave off" had become a general term for warding off or forestalling a disaster.
この引用文中の "sic" はEnglish Collectionで今年の６月１７日に話題にした意味(chase, attack usually used as a command especially to a dog )ですね。