Stranger in a Strange Land
Fish out of water
Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by Robert A.
Heinlein about a human raised on Mars who returns to Earth as an outsider to his own species.
The phrase, borrowed from the Bible (Exodus 2:22), has become shorthand for anyone finding themselves in an unfamiliar culture or situation where the rules don't make sense: Starting at that company felt like being a stranger in a strange land.
- outsiderOne excluded from group
- alienNon-native being
- foreignerNon-native person
- grokDeeply, intuitively comprehend
- science fictionSpeculative fiction with technological themes
Robert Heinlein · Heinlein · Mars · exile · displaced · fish out of water · out of place · unfamiliar · lost · wanderer · immigrant · refugee · culture shock · new world · isolation · otherness · free love · arrival
- Mars FictionMartian Chronicles, War of the Worlds, John Carter, Martians, Martian invasion
- HeinleinStarship Troopers, Friday, grok
Stranger in a Strange Landat home
Present in one's dwelling
native son · local · insider · belonging · rooted
Stranger in a Strange Landhomecoming
Returning to one's origin
returning hero · going home · prodigal son · reunion · repatriation
stranger, strange, strangers, strangely, strangeness, estrange, estranged, estrangement