> (1 2 3) is syntactic sugar for (cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil))) Not really. (1 2 3) is a list in Lisp. (cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil))) is code to produce a l

> (1 2 3) is syntactic sugar for (cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil))) Not really. (1 2 3) is a list in Lisp. (cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil))) is code to produce a list. if we have (append '(1 2 3) (cond 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil)))) The first is a literal list and the second one is code, which produces a list at some point in time - maybe at runtime.