query = villain.query_joke_formats_and_transports() formats, transports = query or formats, transports = ( villain.query_joke_formats_and_tran

query = villain.query_joke_formats_and_transports() formats, transports = query or formats, transports = ( villain.query_joke_formats_and_transports()) or formats, transports = \ villain.query_joke_formats_and_transports() Of which, we tend to do the first. Again, the longer version is clearer and simpler, but the shorter version is not so confounding that it is a slamdunk argument for longer lines, particularly as, for any length line, you could get this problem, so you'll have to do something like it eventually. If you're seeing this all over the place, it may be worth wrapping the API in more pythonic terms. 'Getters' taking no arguments, for example, are often a code-smell in python, though queries (as in your case) are a good exception, since it is also not great to have properties do expensive work (like querying a DB, say).