Hi, Excuse me, but I'm not satisfied with the following example and its explanation in the ruby FAQ: --- p(nil or "") # parse error "or is used to combine expressions in conditionals. Ruby is not expecting a conditional statement in an argument list. " --- (BTW, this explanation of 'or' does not agree with syntax.html.) Even if it was actually a conditional expression (which it is not, I guess), I think it should not matter. Any expression yields an object, doesn't it?! And of course, I can cope with this problem: p( (nil or "") ) # parse ok Maybe, there's something wrong with the parser? If not, then we definitely need the more strict syntax definition. Sorry, if I've missed something relevant in ruby-talk threads. Ruby 1.4.5, Win platform. Sergey Abel