If anything I found Ruby's breadth of syntax sugar a defining characteristic of it - you can express the same program in a million different ways based on the p

If anything I found Ruby's breadth of syntax sugar a defining characteristic of it - you can express the same program in a million different ways based on the programming paradigm you wish to emulate, or even make a DSL of your own to express the feelings in your heart. Not that I think that's necessarily a good thing though...