# Do you grok "grok"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958 "2005-01-10T00:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/21 "2005-01-10T04:40:55Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > What it means is a matter of interpretation, which is why you’re seeing so many different answers (all of which are correct, BTW.) Where it’s from is Robert Heinlein’s book A Stranger In A Strange Land, about a human raised by Martians who returns to Earth as an adult. It’s worth pointing out that, on another level, the book is the story of Christ, but set in the future. Just as _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ is the story of the American Revolution. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/22 "2005-01-10T04:47:52Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > It’s worth pointing out that, on another level, the book is the story of Christ, but set in the future. Not a theory to which I subscribe, but I can see where one would find parallels. For me, this one falls into the “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” category. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/23 "2005-01-10T04:51:18Z")
At 16 and for a year or two thereafter I grokked grok. Not anymore. I realized I didn’t really care that much for SIASL or the way the friend who turned me on to it bought into the philosophy of the book–which made me want to stay away from the word. -Jen, 21 ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/24 "2005-01-10T06:11:04Z")
You know, I never really liked that one either. I unerstand the word, but I don’t grok it. I always wanted to be Lazarus. “Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other ‘sins’ are invented nonsense.” –Lazarus Long ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/25 "2005-01-10T08:17:43Z")
…because the universe is just freaky-deaky that way, I was only yesterday thinking about ‘grok’ (having told the wife that I understood, nay grokked what she was telling me). Did the term originate in _Stranger in a Strange Land_ (where it is Martian for understanding something so deeply you know it in the essence of your being). Or does it predate that? (my favourite useage is The Tick to Friendly Fire in the recent live-action series, ‘I grok your mouth-music mister’). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/26 "2005-01-10T13:06:26Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > No age minimum but admittedly, all of RAH’s stuff is dated and hasn’t aged well. When SIASL was new, however, it was eye-opening. Think of what was going on back then. Yeah, that’s why I threw my age into the OP – as I said to **Queen Tonya** in the conversation that started this, although the book was (ahem) mind-blowing at the time, I suspect it wouldn’t hold up too well. Glad to have that confirmed without investing the four hours. FWIW, when I use “grok,” it’s generally as an immediate response to a really visual, atmospheric movie – _The House of Flying Daggers_ this past weekend, and, IIRC, _Lost in Translation_. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/27 "2005-01-10T13:08:55Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > 😕 > > Um, what does that mean and where did it come from? > > - **Wolfian** , 21 [Grok](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=grok) (It also means “To understand profoundly through intuition or empathy”) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/28 "2005-01-10T13:14:00Z")
I was in 3rd grade when I first read the history of Michael Valentine Smith. I found that I had already been able to grok, I just lacked the word to describe it. And I have been grokking ever since. Grok on! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/29 "2005-01-10T13:20:57Z")
I do but, on principle, pretend to the user that I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/30 "2005-01-10T14:16:33Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > [Grok](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=grok) > > (It also means “To understand profoundly through intuition or empathy”) Which is confusingly _almost_ the same as “glork” ( To derive meaning of a word from the context it is used.) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/31 "2005-01-10T17:20:04Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > Not a theory to which I subscribe, but I can see where one would find parallels. For me, this one falls into the “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” category. It’s not actually debatable. In the RAH letters collection, GRUMBLES FROM THE GRAVE, RAH refers once to SIASL as his “sex and Jesus novel”. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/32 "2005-01-10T17:44:56Z")
Funniest line in **The Tick** : “Mandingo, how I grok your mouth music!” ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/33 "2005-01-10T18:18:31Z")
From _Stranger in a Strange Land_ (this is just a small excerpt so Fair Use should apply): Mahmoud (the linguist) is trying to explain “grok” to Jubal, who is giving sanctuary to Michael (the “Martian”). After explaining that the literal translation is “drink”, he continues. > [@](#): > > “It means ‘fear,’ it means ‘love,’ it means ‘hate’ - proper hate, for by the Martian ‘map’ you cannot hate anything unlest you grok it, understand it so thoroughly that you merge with it and it merges with you - then you can hate. By hating yourself. But this implies that you love it too, and cherish it and would not have it otherwise. Then you can _hate_ - and (I think) Martian hate is an emotion so black that the nearest human equivalent could only be called mild distaste.” > > [snip] > > “'Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes part of the observed - to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science - and it means as little to us as color means to a blind man.” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/34 "2005-01-10T18:32:09Z")
I can dig it. The problem is, after I grok something, digging my way back out to think about it objectively again can be a bear. Do I use the word? Only in a joke or when people around will understand it. Fairly limited. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/35 "2005-01-10T19:42:31Z")
I use the term. I use a lot of “cool” words from past decades that are so old they’re now uncool, but since I use them ironically, they re-cool. 😉 Grok is one, also hep, squaresville, dig, and referring to people as cats. (And in mixed company, “cats and kittens.”) –Cliffy P.S. I don’t think the thread should have been moved – origin aside, this is a question about linguistic usage. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/36 "2005-01-10T20:09:06Z")
I never used the word - even way back then. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958/37 "2005-01-11T00:25:32Z")
Dang, I wrote a great reply to this, but I guess it got eaten. When I was younger, my high school suffered a rash of graffiti… Grok, written on the blackboards in chalk, and on desks in pencil, and occasionally on the sidewalks and walls in Sharpie. When people would ask what it was, I said it was Martian meaning “To Drink”. It was only later that I understood it properly… To Grok something one must know it, and know it deeply. Know it so well it becomes a part of you. You cannot hate that which you grok, because to do so means you hate yourself. Since then, I rarely use the word, since there are so few things I feel I grok [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-grok-grok/283958.md?page=1)