The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language (AHD) is an American English dictionary published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin, whose first edition appeared in 1969. Its creation was stimulated by the controversy over Webster's Third New International Dictionary. James Parton, the publisher (and co-owner) of American Heritage history magazine, was appalled by Webster's Third's permissiveness, published in 1961, and tried to buy Company G. and C. Merriam to undo the changes. When he failed, he hired Houghton to publish a new dictionary. The AHD was edited by William Morris and was based on a panel of use of 105 writers, speakers and eminent persons chosen for their well-known conservatism in the use of language. However, Morris made inconsistent use of the panels, often ignoring his advice and inserting his own opinions.
For expert advice on words or constructions whose use is controversial or problematic, the American Heritage Dictionary is based on the advice of a panel of use. In its current form, the panel comprises nearly 200 prominent members of the professions whose work demands sensitivity to language. Present and former members of the panel use include novelists (Isaac Asimov, Barbara Kingsolver, David Foster Wallace and Eudora Welty), poets (Rita Dove, Galway Kinnell, Mary Oliver and Robert Pinsky), playwrights (Terrence McNally and Marsha Norman) ( Liane Hansen and Susan Stamberg), literary critics (Harold Bloom), columnists and commentators (William F. Buckley, Jr. and Robert J. Samuelson), linguists and cognitive scientists (Anne Curzan, Steven Pinker and Calvert Watkins) and comedians Garrison Keillor , David Sedaris and Alison Bechdel). Pinker, author of the style guide The Sense of Style, is its current chairman, starting in 2016. Panel members receive periodic ballots asking about usage issues; The completed ballots are returned and tabulated, and the results form the basis for the special use notes attached to the relevant dictionary entries. In many cases, these notes not only report the percentage of panelists who consider acceptable a given use or construction, but also report the results of voting on the same question over the past few decades to give a clearer picture of how the Language over time.