I use it all the time. Today's Merriam-Webster Word Of The Day:
grok \GROCK\ verb
: to understand profoundly and intuitively
Example sentence:
No matter how many times I try to explain it, my grandmother just can't grok what a blog is and why anyone would want to read one.Did you know?
"Grok" may be the only English word that derives from Martian. Yes, we do mean the language of the planet Mars. No, we're not getting spacey; we've just ventured into the realm of science fiction. "Grok" was introduced in Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. The book's main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is a Martian-raised human who comes to earth as an adult, bringing with him words from his native tongue and a unique perspective on the strange, strange ways of earthlings. "Grok" was quickly adopted by the youth culture of America and has since peppered the vernacular of those who grok it, from the hippies of the '60s to the computerniks of the '90s.
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I use it all the time too. People that get it snicker. People that don't look at me like I've lost my mind.
I grok Spock!
I like the word too, but yeah, not enough people know what it means.
More detail: In the novel, it actually meant to understand something so completely as to gain (essentially psychic) power over it, providing the "miracle" aspect of the spoof religion that drives the plot. It was supposed to derive from the Martian word for drinking, water sharing being a fundamental ritual in Martian society.
And yeah, I know some people took the religion seriously, even inviting R.A.H. to join their "water circles". Not the first time, q.v. Discordianism.
This is a new word for me. Let me use it with my research adviser the next time we have heated discussion!
That's one of my all time favorite words, too. Heinlein rocks!
You will also find non-English speakers using it. Here in France, several of my French colleagues use it (admittedly, all of them speak English to some degree or another, and I work in a technogeek-rich environment).
Grok isn't a word I use very often but I certainly loved the book as a kid. I don't think I've read it in the past 15 years though.