Only if one can ask him a halachic (legal) question in his area of study, and he can answer, then he is considered a talmid chacham.
"Peoples will gather to the Mount . . . they will suckle the bounty of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand." (Devarim 33:19)
Herein can be found the insights and inspiration of a yeshivah-man living on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Among the hills and sands of the Judean Desert, he continues to discover treasures hidden and revealed, as he sails the sea of Torah, and suckles its bounty.
"Originally, anyone who proposed to me that I should become Nasi - I wished to feed him to the lions. However, after I became the Nasi, if anyone would propose to me that I relinquish that office, I would douse him with boiling water!"
-R' Yehoshua ben Perachyah (Menachos 109B)
