The recent statement by the Oxford University Press head Nigel Portwood, that the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) might likely be ‘digital only’, has caused quite a stir among the people, especially the linguaphiles.

Though the third OED edition will come out in 2020, and no final decision has yet been taken, the statement by Portwood probably comes in the light of the fact that while the online edition of the OED has met with stupendous success, the sale of the 20-volume print edition has been fairly limited.

Talking about the print versus digital prospects of the OED, Portwood recently told UK’s The Sunday Times: “The print dictionary market is just disappearing. It is falling away by tens of percent a year.”

However, clarifying Portwood’s remark later, the Oxford University Press said that though there is still demand for the print version, the interest in the online reference has witnessed notable growth.

From the economic point of view also, the digital version of the OED appears to be a more viable option – the present subscribers to the online version pay $295 for a one-year subscription; where as the coat of the print edition is $995.

The price difference also represents linguistic currency – with the online edition including updates; while the print edition containing the content published in the 1989-printed second edition: all of the words then in the language, their historical uses, etymology and pronunciation.