I think one difference with "grok" is that, the way it's normally used, there really isn't IMO a perfect English replacement. To me at least, it implies a deeper and broader internalizing of something than saying "I understand it" or "I get it" necessarily implies.

Grokking being beyond understanding something is central to Valentine Michael Smiths understanding of the world, and therefore the plot, in “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

Grok is not simply understanding or knowing a thing, it’s knowing that thing so well and all the things related to that thing, and understanding all of your feelings associated with that thing, that it becomes a part of you. At least, that was my interpretation of it.

Heinlein’s explanation and exposition is more detailed in the actual book. If you have not read it, highly recommended.

Oh, I've read it and it's on my bookshelf. Just something like 3 or 4 decades ago :-) It was never actually a particularly favorite Heinlein for me though so I haven't re-read in a very long time if ever.

Hey same here, and Heinlein was my favorite author for a very long time. That particular book just never really did it for me.

Stranger in a Stranger Land was probably more of particular time and place that a lot of Heinlein's works. Although it came out at in 1961--mostly predating the counterculture era in the US, its mainstream cross-over appeal was definitely tied in with the Summer of Love etc. later in the decade.

1968 would indeed be about the right time period as "I grok Spock" bumper stickers appeared around then too.

happens that it was banned in TX schools until 2003, so i guess some share of population just doesn't grok it :)

It really doesn't. It's just a social signaling mechanism meant to give you the feeling of being cool for knowing about it. Every subculture does this, mostly unconsciously. Heinlein was really good at social dynamics and gave his (mostly young) readers the feeling of being initiated into a social elite. His pal L ron hubbard took the same knowledge in a different direction and created Scientology.

And most memes have a meaning that goes beyond the apparent literal one. For instance, see https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/engli... , talking about the use of "because thing" being more than just "because of thing". For instance, "rough and dough don't rhyme, because English". It started as a meme, and now it's in dictionaries.

This is how new forms of communication develop. Sometimes they're random images (images that'll probably be used for even more extensive tracking now), sometimes they're playful changes to language, sometimes they're intentionally invented or modified words because the language lacked a word for a given purpose, and if they catch on enough with enough people they'll become part of communication. Because brains and pattern matching.

“Comprehend” works, in British English at least.

It's more "fully comprehend all aspects". You could also say "get" or "understand" or "know" as synonyms for comprehend (in the right context).

Grok works in English, I've been reading it for, what, 20 years in English texts. It mightn't be in dictionaries but they're not the sole arbiters of language.

It comes from US English, AFAIK, a neonym from Heinlein (the sci-fi writer).

I believe it's in both Oxford and Merriam-Webster.

I use "grok" in my writing. Sometimes an older person (usually a boomer or Greatest Generation reader) doesn't get it. Usually the Gen X and younger people understand what it means. Anecdotal, FWIW...

I always just figured it was programmer speak and used it accordingly.

English speakers seem to have this weird idea that all people need to use language that everyone can understand.

Other languages tailor their speaking patterns given the class, context, and people around them.

Several subcultures adopted this word in the US decades ago, leading to it being commonly used by people who had never heard of the book.

How long before forms requesting personal data allow us to upload our own list of acceptable vocabulary to be used in our presence?

You could basically have this as an user-agent setting, so it just translates it down to the accepted language level of the reader.

Sounds beautifully dystopian.

I mean, the most obvious difference is that grok is actually in the dictionary. It's totally fair game compared to ST:TNG references. I don't use it in professional writing though, of course.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grok

Or to put it another way, it is basically a reaction gif in word form.

.. and (as Michael explains on the book) it’s literal meaning in Martian is “drink”, or in other words “to make part of yourself”. It used to really annoy me when people used it to mean “understand”, but I’ve got over that now.

I think grok has escaped it's sci-fi niche now - I learned it as a vocab word in English class when I was in school over a decade ago.

I think that's (part of) the joke.

"To grok is to drink."