# I have never seen or heard the word "grok" outside of this message board. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882 "2014-07-11T19:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/21 "2014-07-12T04:21:16Z")
I’ve seen many instances of the word in the wild, a good portion in fairly serious, non geek writing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/22 "2014-07-12T05:01:25Z")
Does the usage here make you feel like a stranger in a strange land? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/23 "2014-07-12T08:35:18Z")
I was a big Heinlein fan back in the 60s, but came to hate the word when the hippies started using it. Looking back, I’d put it in the same category as “groovy.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/24 "2014-07-12T09:08:11Z")
> [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](#): > > That depends heavily on what circles you run in! Grok gets around, but it’s still esoteric for most people. > > I say use it freely. There will be enough context for people to grok you 😃 The reach of ‘grok’ is pretty poor, but you can generally [glark](http://www.retrologic.com/jargon/G/glark.html) the meaning from context. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/25 "2014-07-12T11:17:08Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > but do you have a reason to use it? Often! But usually just to myself. Walking down the street, I will be people-watching and see a beautiful woman a distance away from behind and simply think to myself “cal-li-PIE-gian, baby!!” and make myself smile. It’s the little things, folks. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/26 "2014-07-12T16:35:50Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > “The Book” was undoubtedly the worst thing that Robert Heinlein ever wrote, including some of the crappier short stories. In one of his later books, Heinlein had a character express a similar opinion of _Stranger_: “What some writers will do for money!” Of course, this _was_ in Number of the Beast. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/27 "2014-07-13T02:23:24Z")
The only other place I’ve seen it used is on the JREF board. I find both “grok” and “cromulent” to be very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/28 "2014-07-13T05:20:46Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > I am a big fan of RAH and have read or own most of his works. Stranger in a Strange Land is the Star Trek V of his works, the one that should never have been written and does not exist in this fans mind. > > Of course, your opinions may vary. And yet others – quite a lot of them, in fact – consider _Stranger in a Strange Land_ to be the greatest thing Heinlein ever wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/29 "2014-07-14T15:32:38Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > And yet others – quite a lot of them, in fact – consider _Stranger in a Strange Land_ to be the greatest thing Heinlein ever wrote. Yep, for example, NPR lists _Stranger_ as the [17th best Science Fiction book in the history of ever.](http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books) I took NPR’s advice and am currently 3/4 of the way through the book. I want my bloody $22 back. The 200-page long diversion into the protagonist’s new careers as drifter/carnies is getting difficult to slog through. I was also disappointed when Smith’s mysterious ability to make things “turn 90°” became “he can do anything!” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/30 "2014-07-14T15:50:28Z")
The problem most reader have with \*Stranger \*is that it’s not science fiction. It’s social satire, a comedy of manners, very deliberately written as such. Picking it up and expecting a ripping Heinlein-across-the-universe yarn or even a traditional novel is sure to lead to disappointment. The only other Heinlein work close to it - and not very - is _Job_, written 25 years later. \*Glory Road \*is very faintly in the same category, and that’s about it. So it’s not representative of Heinlein at all, despite its popularity and strong attachment as “his best novel” etc. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/31 "2014-07-14T16:02:29Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > For me it’s _The Number of the Beast_. What a craptacular shitfest that one was. Never read _The Number of the Beast_. I did slog through _I Will Fear No Evil_, which makes _Stranger_ look like Dostoevsky by comparison. There were a couple of his other later books that I tried to read, but gave up within the first 50 pages. (_Friday_ was one; can’t remember the other.) In general, his later stuff simply reeks, far more even than _Stranger_, which at least has some good parts where Jubal Harshaw dominates the action. As far as _grok_ is concerned, as a word used outside of discussions of _Stranger_, it’s dated, no question about it. Those “grok concerts” at the P Street Beach in Rock Creek Park were 40 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/32 "2014-07-15T03:02:59Z")
I vaguely recall that Heinlein had a stroke in the middle of “stranger”, and while he denied it, I believe that accounts for some of the odd juxtaposition of tone. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/33 "2014-07-15T05:01:34Z")
\*“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot grok.” \* ― Sun Tzu, \*\*The Art of War \*\* There ya go, again! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/34 "2014-07-15T17:00:50Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I vaguely recall that Heinlein had a stroke in the middle of “stranger”, and while he denied it, I believe that accounts for some of the odd juxtaposition of tone. Heinlein’s stroke was much later (1977); Heinlein did take a break from writing Stranger to write Starship Troopers, and some have attributed a change in tone from the earlier parts of Stranger to the later parts to this break, but Heinlein said he had had Stranger plotted out well in advance, including the changes in focus, tone, etc. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/35 "2014-07-15T17:47:23Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > It was popular only because of the time it was released, the free love era of the '60s. Grok is just a new-age word for I understand, I get it, I can feel where you are coming from. It was supposed to mean a great deal more but RAH could never get the idea across, because a new word was not needed. Interesting - I feel the exact opposite about grok (Heinlein, well, I recognize his talents but they don’t really “do it” for me). Maybe I just grok grok, 😉 but to me, it’s more complex than I get it/I feel where you’re coming from. Also, your examples show we didn’t have “a word” for the same feeling - you needed to use phrases instead. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/36 "2014-07-15T17:58:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There used to be buttons that read “I Grok Spock” The first time I remember seeing the word was when someone was wearing an “I Grok Spock” T-shirt on the SNL William Shatner “Get A Life!” sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/37 "2014-07-15T18:31:46Z")
There is one thing that _Stranger in a Strange Land_ has going for it. Its a great title. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/38 "2014-07-15T19:21:27Z")
_Stranger in a Strange Land_ isn’t bad, but there is something fundamentally wrong with the supposition that we should all chill out, kick back, and be excellent to each other on the strength of our awesome Martian mental powers. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/39 "2014-07-15T19:49:40Z")
I first came across the word “grok” in, oh, hte late 70s or early 80s, in the phrase “I Grok Spock.” Being only a lad I had not encountered Heinlein yet, so I thought it was something older Trek fans had invented. I must have been in my mid to late teens when I first read STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882/40 "2014-07-16T12:03:58Z")
I still use the word, and nobody gets it, which is why I still use the word. 🙂 GROK? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-seen-or-heard-the-word-grok-outside-of-this-message-board/692882.md?page=3)