Re: Cypherpunks' mail database does exist (fwd)
It does my heart good to hear someone use the term 'grok' -- I don't hear many folks use that term very much anymore. ,-)
- paul
What does it mean?
osten@hurricane.seas.ucla.edu says:
It does my heart good to hear someone use the term 'grok' -- I don't hear many folks use that term very much anymore. ,-)
What does it mean?
Its the martian word for the verb "to drink". .pm
You wrote: | > It does my heart good to hear someone use the term 'grok' -- I don't | > hear many folks use that term very much anymore. ,-) | > | > - paul | > | > | What does it mean? To drink. :) (Actually, it means to understand something fully & completely, but the literal translation is 'to drink.' See Robert Hienlien's Stranger in a Strange Land for its origins.) Adam -- Adam Shostack adam@bwh.harvard.edu Politics. From the greek "poly," meaning many, and ticks, a small, annoying bloodsucker.
It does my heart good to hear someone use the term 'grok' -- I don't hear many folks use that term very much anymore. ,-)
- paul
What does it mean?
You _would_ ask. grok /grok/, var. /grohk/ [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'] vt. 1. To understand, usually in a global sense. Connotes intimate and exhaustive knowledge. Contrast zen, similar supernal understanding 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." (From "The New Hackers Dictionary," edited by Eric Raymond, adapted from the original Internet "jargon file") - paul
From: osten@hurricane.seas.ucla.edu Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 15:04:09 -0800 (PDT)
It does my heart good to hear someone use the term 'grok' -- I don't hear many folks use that term very much anymore. ,-)
- paul
What does it mean? Hmmm... Someone who doesn't grok ``grok''. How interesting! -russ <nelson@crynwr.com> ftp.msen.com:pub/vendor/crynwr/crynwr.wav Crynwr Software | Crynwr Software sells packet driver support | ask4 PGP key 11 Grant St. | +1 315 268 1925 (9201 FAX) | Quakers do it in the light Potsdam, NY 13676 | LPF member - ask me about the harm software patents do.
participants (5)
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Adam Shostack -
nelson＠crynwr.com -
osten＠hurricane.seas.ucla.edu -
paul＠hawksbill.sprintmrn.com -
Perry E. Metzger