Changes

Grok (pronounced GROCK) is a verb from Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel, ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' (1961).  In it a Martian visits earth and brings his language from Mars.  Grok means to understand, in an utterly complete and intuitive way.  It's the Martian equivalent of to "get it", and the youth culture adopted this new word into the English language. The word is included in the American Heritage[http://www.bartleby.com/61/65/G0276500.html] and Merriam-Webster dictionaries. It is sometimes associated with hippies<ref>McCleary, John Bassett, ''The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia (And Phraseicon) of the 1960s and 1970s,''[http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1580085474&id=vYvL4yFI2AQC&pg=RA1-PA223&lpg=RA1-PA223&ots=5fIdoQdlB8&dq=grok+in+fullness&sig=4G2aFDze9XW_xhLE_pvqOFWfBBk, p. 223]</ref> and computer programmers<ref>''The Hacker's Dictionary''[http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/tech/computers/TheHackersDictionaryofComputerJargon/chap28.html]</ref>

Grok (pronounced GROCK) is a verb from Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel, ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' (1961).  In it a Martian visits earth and brings his language from Mars.  Grok means to understand, in an utterly complete and intuitive way.  It's the Martian equivalent of to "get it", and the youth culture adopted this new word into the English language. The word is included in the American Heritage[http://www.bartleby.com/61/65/G0276500.html] and Merriam-Webster dictionaries. It is sometimes associated with hippies<ref>McCleary, John Bassett, ''The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia (And Phraseicon) of the 1960s and 1970s,''[http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1580085474&id=vYvL4yFI2AQC&pg=RA1-PA223&lpg=RA1-PA223&ots=5fIdoQdlB8&dq=grok+in+fullness&sig=4G2aFDze9XW_xhLE_pvqOFWfBBk, p. 223]</ref> and computer programmers<ref>''The Hacker's Dictionary''[http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/tech/computers/TheHackersDictionaryofComputerJargon/chap28.html]</ref>

:After all, therapists not only grok, but they have to grok fellow human beings who are anguished, defeated, and often at their wit's end, or, certainly, not at their best.<ref>Brady, Mark, ''The Wisdom of Listening,'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0861713559&id=M5W4aHIFWVkC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=grok&sig=XmSdpyPN_-_pPCbQWZj0MUfViTI p. 94]</ref>

:After all, therapists not only grok, but they have to grok fellow human beings who are anguished, defeated, and often at their wit's end, or, certainly, not at their best.<ref>Brady, Mark, ''The Wisdom of Listening,'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0861713559&id=M5W4aHIFWVkC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=grok&sig=XmSdpyPN_-_pPCbQWZj0MUfViTI p. 94]</ref>

Grok is probably the only English word that comes from the language of Mars.

Grok is perhaps the only English word that comes from the fictional language of Mars.

==References==

==References==

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