Far be it from the power of my single, small protesting voice to change the tide of a culture, but I wish we could discontinue the use of the word grok. The sound is aesthetically offensive somehow, and yet adds nothing to the synonyms: comprehend or understand.<p>Its proponents claim it implies a &#x2F;complete&#x2F; understanding, so is more specific. Yet &quot;I understand&quot; does not imply an incomplete understanding. Furthermore the implication of completeness is a weak one, this is proven by how quickly and easily even that small value is neutralized when, for example, the parent said, &quot;I can grok some&#x2F;most of it.&quot; If we should take this to mean, &quot;I can completely and comprehensively understand some or most of it,&quot; is that meaningful or truly the parent&#x27;s intent? Even if it were, does it add to, &quot;I can understand some or most of it&quot;?<p>I would speculate that the reason a word for &quot;completely understand&quot; hasn&#x27;t already made its way into the English lexicon after hundreds of years is because it&#x27;s unnecessary, and further that its use within the IT community is motivated not so much by the desire for precision in communication as by a desire to be perceived as a savvy member of the community.