Alex Young wrote:

> When you say "literals don't work", what do you mean?
>
> I get this:
>
> irb(main):048:0> x.show
> #=> [X, X::Kernel, Object, Kernel]
> #=> "Hello"
> #=> "Hello!!!!!"
> => nil
>
> What are you expecting?

Notice that when you create a string via String.new you get the
exlamation marks. If you use the literal constructor you do not. That's
because Ruby does not search for the String class relative to context
when instantiating literls. If it did, this could be a basis for
SELECTOR NAMESPACES.

T.