Here's another fun thing in Ruby: irb(main):001:0> x = true or "hi" => true irb(main):002:0> x => true irb(main):003:0> x = false or "hi"

Here's another fun thing in Ruby: irb(main):001:0> x = true or "hi" => true irb(main):002:0> x => true irb(main):003:0> x = false or "hi" => "hi" irb(main):004:0> x => false What? Short-circuit evaluation doesn't work in an assignment..? Oh. irb(main):005:0> x = (false or "hi") => "hi" irb(main):006:0> x => "hi" In fairness, the || operator does not require explicit parentheses — but I still hold that operator precedence is just evil.