Debbie from Crawfordsville, Florida, says that when she and her husband reach an impasse while working on something, they’ll say Let’s grok about it, which they use to mean “Let’s think about it.” Grok was coined by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land (Bookshop|Amazon). Originally meaning “to drink,” grok also came to mean “to have a profound understanding of.” By the way, Grant mispronounces “Heinlein” during this segment. It should be /ΛhaΙͺn laΙͺn/ where both syllables rhyme with “line” or “mine.” This is part of a complete episode.
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...
Rod in Alexandria, Louisiana, says that in his real estate business, cut to the chase means to “get to the bottom line.” In the early days of the movie industry, when a sagging plot could be livened up by cutting directly to an exciting...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Martha and Grant send occasional messages with language headlines, event announcements, linguistic tidbits, and episode reminders. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
