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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43816
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43816
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

When I taught ENGL100, I advised students to minimize quotes (still maximize citations for their summaries and paraphrases _unless_ it was to indicate **"poetry or precision"**.

The quote you indicated definitely would count under "poetry" -- any attempt to rephrase it changes its meaning too significantly.

If there _is_ a firm rule in the class against specific words, then I would do the NYTimes thing and write it with as few letters dashed out as possible: "sh\_t," "sh--" or "s---" all get the point across, but are increasingly neutered.

Another option would be "[defecate]" -- the square brackets indicate a substitution or addition. If Bruce Wayne is talking about his good friend Clark, he may say "Clark is the best at karaoke, his voice is super!" but you may quote it as "Clark [Kent] is the best at karaoke." If he slipped and said "Superman is the best at karaoke," or if he was unclear in that one sentence ("He's great at karaoke") you can save the secret identity (or clarify who "he" is) by saying "[Clark Kent] is the best at karaoke" --

_(I see Lauren Ipsum already covered the square brackets some -- I just wanted to add more context on the land of square brackets)_

I would advise _against_ adding "[sic]" (Latin for "thus") after the quote, because that's more commonly used to show "there's an error here, I know it, you know it, but I wanted to preserve the flavor." I might use it if the elder misspoke, but it seems clear that he knew what he meant to say, and the influence the would would have. If you wanted to indicate that a Martian awkwardly askedwhere the bathroom was on this boat, you might say "Where does one ship on this ship?[sic]" However, others may view "shit" as a colloquialism that should get the "sic" treatment. Check your style guide, perhaps?

Original score: 2