Re: [xougen] Dumb question of the month

[Steve Nickolas]

David Ross wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> What does "grok" mean?
>
> Thanks,
> David

Not a dumb question.  It's Jargon.
http://catb.org/jargon/html/G/grok.html
This is from my local (mingkofo) copy.

-uso.

grok: /grok/, /grohk/, vt.
[common; from the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. 
Heinlein, where it is a Martian word meaning literally ‘to drink’ and 
metaphorically ‘to be one with’] The emphatic form is grok in fullness.

1. To understand. Connotes intimate and exhaustive knowledge. When you 
claim to ‘grok’ some knowledge or technique, you are asserting that you 
have not merely learned it in a detached instrumental way but that it 
has become part of you, part of your identity. For example, to say that 
you “know” LISP is simply to assert that you can code in it if necessary 
— but to say you “grok” LISP is to claim that you have deeply entered 
the world-view and spirit of the language, with the implication that it 
has transformed your view of programming. Contrast zen, which is similar 
supernal understanding experienced as a single brief flash. See also glark.

2. Used of programs, may connote merely sufficient understanding. 
“Almost all C compilers grok the void type these days.”