Pet Byte 1: Do you know where "sic 'em" originated?
Do you know where "sic 'em" originated from?
Pet guardians have been telling dogs to “sic ’em,” with the intent to have the dog attack since at least the nineteenth century. While this may seem odd given common modern definitions for “sick” or the variant “sic,” when this command first emerged, it made perfect sense.
“Sick,” in this context, had nothing to do with the word meaning unwell, ill, or ailing but instead was simply a linguistic nuance of “seek,” which used to carry the meaning of seeking with the intent to attack. This meaning of the word “seek” was used as far back as around 1000 AD in the Old English epic poem, Beowulf. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain date is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025 AD.
The first known instance of someone instructing a dog to attack someone using this “sic 'em” command occurred in Johnson J. Hooper’s 1845 Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs,
"Here, Bull!" shouted the widow, "sick him, Pomp!" but we cantered off, unwounded, fortunately, by the fangs of Bull and Pomp, who kept up the chase as long as they could hear the cheering voice of their mistress--"Si-c-k, Pomp--sick, sick, si-c-k him, Bull--suboy! suboy! suboy!"
Johnson J. Hooper