[kazinator]

The syntax is easy in Lisp, but you don't know what it means without having the vocabulary of operators. The vocabulary is fluid and varies from dialect to dialect.

However, the vocabulary part of a Lisp dialect consists of things which are named. Names can easily be looked up in documentation.

Furthermore, you know what is and is not part of the form even if you don't recognize the operator: you know that (fnoozle blub (grogg)) q42 is invoking fnoozle with two argument expressions, and q42 has no part of it. You don't know how/if those two arguments are evaluated but if you look up fnoozle in the manual, it should be clear. The manual will talk about the arguments, and you can identify which of those is blub and which is (grogg).