What’s the Word?

Words. They make a difference. The right word can replace a paragraph of meaning and the wrong one can cause such confusion as to make comprehension unlikely.

As a blogger (and a Journalism major in college), words are important to me. There are some that are in favor of a more static view of words and meaning, where I subscribe to the theory that change is good. This is never more true in how new words come into being. With that, I present to you (a little late), a handful of the new words that were added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2014 (there were about 150 total). It is so easy to see how it takes waaaaaaaaaay too long to get new words into this particular tome and that the focus is too American:

• big data – an accumulation of data that is too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools
• catfish – (secondary meaning) a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes
• crowdfunding – the practice of soliciting financial contributions from a large number of people especially from the online community
• fracking – the injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources (such as oil or natural gas)
• freegan – an activist who scavenges for free food (as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants) as a means of reducing consumption of resources
• gamification – the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation
• hashtag – a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)
• pho – a soup made of beef or chicken broth and rice noodles
• poutine – a dish of French fries covered with brown gravy and cheese curds
• selfie – an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks
• social networking – the creation and maintenance of personal and business relationships especially online
• steampunk – science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology
• turducken – a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey
• tweep – a person who uses the Twitter online message service to send and receive tweets
• Yooper – a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan —used as a nickname

Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs

Luckily these made it to my plate faster than those words made it into the dictionary!

That bag on the left contains some very hot Thai chili powder.

Marinating the chicken.

On the grill.

Divine!

Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced chili
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

1 Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl.

2 Mix thoroughly.

3 Add chicken and leave to marinate at least one hour, preferably longer.

4 Grill chicken on the BBQ, hotplate or in the griller until golden brown and cooked through.

5 Ususlly you would expect 12 thigh fillets to feed 4 to 6 people- in my family the kids eat 4 each so this recipe serves 3.

Nutritional Info: Calories 330.2
Calories from Fat 121
Total Fat 13.4 g
Saturated Fat 2.9 g
Cholesterol 172.4 mg
Sodium 1108.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 7.9 g
Dietary Fiber 0.5 g
Sugars 5.5 g
Protein 42.3 g

Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/thai-grilled-chicken-thighs-99156