Barry Popik

[Fred Shapiro]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2001, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> > 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".

There is some officialness to it, in that the print and online versions of
the OED both include lists of "principal contributors" and "consultants."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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