diff --git a/lib/metaprogramming.nom b/lib/metaprogramming.nom
index b4c1283..4b47ddf 100644
--- a/lib/metaprogramming.nom
+++ b/lib/metaprogramming.nom
@@ -66,15 +66,15 @@ lua> ".."
 
 rule [remove rule %stub] =:
     lua> ".."
-        local def = nomsu.defs[\(%stub)];
+        local def = nomsu.defs[\%stub];
         for _, alias in ipairs(def.aliases) do
             nomsu.defs[alias] = false;
         end
 
 rule [%tree as lua] =:
-    =lua "nomsu:tree_to_lua(\(%tree))"
+    =lua "nomsu:tree_to_lua(\%tree)"
 rule [%tree as value] =:
-    =lua "nomsu:tree_to_value(\(%tree), vars)"
+    =lua "nomsu:tree_to_value(\%tree, vars)"
 compile [repr %obj] to:
     "nomsu:repr(\(%obj as lua))"
 compile [indented %obj] to:
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ parse [lua do> %block] as:
 
 rule [%tree as lua statement] =:
     lua do> ".."
-        local _,statement = nomsu:tree_to_lua(\(%tree));
+        local _,statement = nomsu:tree_to_lua(\%tree);
         return statement;
 rule [%tree as lua statements] =:
     lua do> ".."
diff --git a/lib/operators.nom b/lib/operators.nom
index 198a8ff..23de2b3 100644
--- a/lib/operators.nom
+++ b/lib/operators.nom
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ lua do> ".."
         end
         nomsu:defmacro("%a "..nomsu_alias.." %b", (function(nomsu, vars)
             return "("..nomsu:tree_to_lua(vars.a).." "..op.." "..nomsu:tree_to_lua(vars.b)..")";
-        end), [["(\\%a ]]..op..[[ \\(%b))"]]);
+        end), [["(\\%a ]]..op..[[ \\%b)"]]);
     end
 
 # TODO: implement OR, XOR, AND for multiple operands
diff --git a/lib/utils.nom b/lib/utils.nom
index 11f0ccf..a67b056 100644
--- a/lib/utils.nom
+++ b/lib/utils.nom
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ compile [random int %n, random integer %n, randint %n] to: "math.random(\(%n as
 compile [random from %low to %high, random number from %low to %high, rand %low %high] to:
     "math.random(\(%low as lua), \(%high as lua))"
 rule [random choice from %elements, random choice %elements, random %elements] =:
-    =lua "\(%elements)[math.random(#\(%elements))]"
+    =lua "\%elements[math.random(#\%elements)]"
 
 # Math functions
 compile [% as number] to: "tonumber(\(% as lua))"
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ compile [log % base %base] to: "math.log(\(% as lua), \(%base as lua))"
 compile [floor %] to: "math.floor(\(% as lua))"
 compile [round %, % rounded] to: "math.floor(\(% as lua) + .5)"
 rule [%n rounded to the nearest %rounder] =:
-    =lua "(\(%rounder))*math.floor(\(%n)/\(%rounder) + .5)"
+    =lua "(\%rounder)*math.floor((\%n / \%rounder) + .5)"
 compile [tau] to: "(2*math.pi)"
 compile [pi] to: "math.pi"
 compile [e] to: "math.e"
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ compile [product of %items, product %items] to: "nomsu.utils.product(\(%items as
 compile [all of %items] to: "nomsu.utils.all(\(%items as lua))"
 compile [any of %items] to: "nomsu.utils.any(\(%items as lua))"
 rule [avg of %items, average of %items] =:
-    =lua "(nomsu.utils.sum(\(%items))/#\(%items))"
+    =lua "(nomsu.utils.sum(\%items)/#\%items)"
 compile [min of %items, smallest of %items, lowest of %items] to:
     "nomsu.utils.min(\(%items as lua))"
 compile [max of %items, biggest of %items, largest of %items, highest of %items] to:
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ compile [max of %items by %value_expr] to: ".."
     end)
 compile [sort %items] to: "table.sort(\(%items as lua))"
 rule [sort %items by %key] =: =lua ".."
-    nomsu.utils.sort(\(%items), function(x)
-        return (\(%key))(nomsu, {['']=x});
+    nomsu.utils.sort(\%items, function(x)
+        return (\%key)(nomsu, {['']=x});
     end)
 
 # String utilities
diff --git a/lib/utils2.nom b/lib/utils2.nom
index cdaf5fa..d2fda8b 100644
--- a/lib/utils2.nom
+++ b/lib/utils2.nom
@@ -28,14 +28,14 @@ compile [with %assignments %action] to code:
             Invalid format for 'with' statement. List entries must have the form %var = (value)
         %value = (%tokens -> 3)
         add {i=%i, var=%var, value=%value} to %data
-    %foo = (..)
+    %setup = (..)
         join (..)
             "local old_value\(%->"i") = \((%->"var") as lua); \((%->"var") as lua) = \((%->"value") as lua);"
             ..for all %data
         ..with glue "\n    "
     ".."
         do
-            \(%foo)
+            \%setup
             local fell_through = false;
             local ok, ret1, ret2 = pcall(function(nomsu, vars)
                 \(%action as lua statements);