A few more examples which may be useful: v: 'vv1; vv1: 'vvv1; vvv1: 'vvvv1; '( '(v) ) => 'v '( v ) => v '( ''v ) => vv1 ''v => vvv1 ''(''v) => vvvv1 My example of ev was flawed because I didn't re-set v. This is better: v: 'vv1; [v, ev(v), v: 'vv2, v, ev(v)] => [vv1, vvv1, vv2, vv2, vvv2]