Clojure is arguably a better language for being less pure as a Lisp. Many old school Lispers object to the dedicated vector and map syntax, but it's 2014 and th

Clojure is arguably a better language for being less pure as a Lisp. Many old school Lispers object to the dedicated vector and map syntax, but it's 2014 and these data structures are important and common enough to warrant shorthand. Syntax is a trade between regularity and expressiveness. What you're seeing with "languages improving towards Lisp" is, in my opinion, languages seeking the benefits of greater regularity.