SML definitely has a more tastefully designed syntax also, and not only because it's a smaller grammar. OCaml syntax is the "scuffed" version of SML syntax, as

SML definitely has a more tastefully designed syntax also, and not only because it's a smaller grammar. OCaml syntax is the "scuffed" version of SML syntax, as the kids say! Unfortunately to be a real-world SML user these days is a very isolating proposition, because although there are some really nice implementations (MLton, PolyML), to a first approximation there are zero libraries.