gook

n 1: any thick messy substance [syn: {sludge}, {slime}, {goo}, {guck},

{gunk}, {muck}, {ooze}]

2: a disparaging term for an Asian person (especially for North

Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War) [syn: {slant-eye}]

grok

/grok/, /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")

1. To understand, usually in a global sense. Connotes

intimate and exhaustive knowledge.

Contrast {zen}, which is similar supernal understanding

experienced 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."

[{Jargon File}]

(1995-01-31)