Q. I don’t know the correct spelling of a last name. How do I indicate in my newsletter that I may have misspelled it? [Sic] doesn’t seem right.
A. Sic would actually mean the opposite of what you want to say; it would mean that although the spelling may look wrong, you are confirming that you have spelled it correctly. If you are not able to contact the person or produce any reliable sources confirming the spelling, and if you decide that it’s still a good idea to publish this item, at the very least note that the spelling is unverified.