And you know how to find out what you don't know

...that said, functional programming and the university level words associated with it intimidate me and quickly go over my head. Mainly because I haven't got a practical application for it, and they're more abstract concepts. A railway switch? Sure, I can understand that. A monad? What? Why are you making up words?

(tongue in cheek, I've had a stint of Scala so I can sort of apply some of these things in practice. I just don't have the vocabulary, educational background, or practical applications)