[ipozgaj]

You don't need grep for that, ss can already filter by state on its own. Use: "ss -o state LISTENING"

[throwaway2016a]

Sometimes I find typing grep/cut/awk/etc to be easier to remember than custom flags and thus faster to type. Often times my time spent looking through the man page is better spent just writing a more verbose command line.

[saynsedit]

+1. You can see the same effect in natural language as modern English has fewer tenses and declensions and makes heavier use of helper words, as contrasted with olde English. Same with Latin vs modern romance.