Barry Popik

[Jesse Sheidlower]

> Is "contributor to the OED" an official title, presumably awarded by Oxford
> University Press?  Or is it a folk tradition among the etymological
> community, awarded by a consensus of one's peers?  Or is it a title that
> anyone can claim?  Does it represent a level or quantity of submissions?  Or
> what?

It's not an official title, and it's not "awarded". I don't know, I don't
think there's ever been a case of someone trying to claim it underservedly.
Certainly if someone _were_ falsely claiming that they were connected to the
OED in order to get something (access, recognition, whatever), we would do
something about it.

Whatever the threshold, Barry's _way_ past it.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED contributor-maker