Grok vs Gook - What's the difference?
grok | gook |
(slang) To have or to have acquired an intuitive understanding of; to know (something) without having to think (such as knowing the number of objects in a collection without needing to count them: see subitize).
* {{quote-book
, year=1961
, year_published=
, edition=
, editor=
, author=Robert A. Heinlein
, title=Stranger in a Strange Land
, chapter=
, url=
, genre=
, publisher=
, isbn=
, page=107
, passage=I do not grok' all fullness of what I read. In the history written by Master William Shakespeare I found myself full of happiness at the death of Romeo. Then I read on and learned that he had discorporated too soon – or so I thought I ' grokked . Why?
}}
* {{quote-book
, year=1968
, title=(The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test)
, first=Tom
, last=Wolfe
, authorlink=Tom Wolfe
, isbn=9780553380644
, passage = Grok ?and then it's clear, without anybody having to say it.
}}
* {{quote-magazine
, date=
, year=2008
, month=Dec
, first=
, last=
, author=Leslie Anthony
, coauthors=
, title=Running from Babylon
, volume=61
, issue=4
, page=116
, magazine=Skiing
, publisher=
, issn=
, url=
, passage=He freely plucks notions and verbiage from science fiction to describe everything from mountain-related undertakings to political subterfuge – like "grok ", a term from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, to denote intuitive understanding.
}}
(slang) To fully and completely understand something in all its details and intricacies.
* {{quote-magazine
, date=
, year=2008
, month=August
, first=
, last=
, author=Stanley Bing
, coauthors=
, title=New Help for Hodads
, volume=158
, issue=3
, page=152
, magazine=Fortune
, publisher=
, issn=
, url=
, passage=Today we take a few moments to help you grok some of the ways that victims of TU can up their hipness – if we may use that term without being considered old school.
}}
(slang, vulgar, pejorative, offensive, ethnic slur) A person from the Far East, Oceania or Southeast Asia, in particular a Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean person.
(informal) Grime or mud.
* {{quote-book, 1983, Len O'Connor, A Reporter in Sweet Chicago, isbn=0809276488
, passage="Roost No More" was a yellow gook that Joe's people would spread around, for a fee, on the ledges of houses and commercial buildings plagued by pigeons.}}
As a verb grok
is (slang) to have or to have acquired an intuitive understanding of; to know (something) without having to think (such as knowing the number of objects in a collection without needing to count them: see subitize).As a noun gook is
(slang|vulgar|pejorative|offensive|ethnic slur) a person from the far east, oceania or southeast asia, in particular a vietnamese, filipino, chinese, korean person or gook can be (informal) grime or mud.grok
English
Verb
(grokk)- He groks Perl.
- I find it exceedingly doubtful that any person groks quantum mechanics.
Usage notes
* Grok is used mainly by the geek subculture, though it was heavily used by the counterculture of the 1960s, as evidenced by its repeated appearance in Tom Wolfe's “.”See also
(wikipedia) *Heinlein Society
gook
English
Etymology 1
Use traced to U.S. Marines in Philippines in early 20th century.Dictionary.com]Pearson, Kim, "[http://kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu/Dictionary/gook.htm Gook". Earliest recorded example is dated 1920.Seligman, Herbert J., "
The Conquest of Haiti", The Nation, July 10, 1920. * Folk etymology suggests that during the Korean War, young Korean children would point at U.S. soldiers and shout ", guk) itself simply means "country". This explanation ignores the fact that there are many examples of the word's use that pre-date the Korean War.
Noun
(en noun)Usage notes
* In the US, gook refers particularly to a Vietnamese person in the context of the Vietnam War, and particularly to the Viet Cong. It is generally considered highly offensive, on a par with nigger.Etymology 2
Possible blend of goop and gunk.Noun
(en noun)citation