Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!mailrus!ames!sgi!arisia!quintus!ok From: ok@quintus.uucp (Richard A. O'Keefe) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: GROK THIS!! Keywords: grok Message-ID: <767@quintus.UUCP> Date: 29 Nov 88 11:57:56 GMT References: <1289@leah.Albany.Edu> <3454@ttidca.TTI.COM> Sender: news@quintus.UUCP Reply-To: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Inc. Lines: 11 In article <3454@ttidca.TTI.COM> paulb@ncc1701.tti.com (Paul Blumstein) writes: >In article <1289@leah.Albany.Edu> bv3456@leah.albany.edu (Victor @ The Concrete Museum) writes: >+> Could anyone explain what a GROK is? (Some acronym?) >+ >+If I remember correctly, R.A. Heinlein wrote a book in the early 60's called >+'A Stranger in a Strange Land', which became sort of a cult hit. To quote the book "'grok' means 'drink'". (Hence "absorb completely".) In fact the word PREDATES Heinlein's book. I forget the author & title, but oddly enough the first known book to use "grok" was an SF story about Mars, and used "grok" to mean "understand". Coincidence is wonderful.