the python string notation (str % tuple) would fit really well too... putStrLn "hello %s, you got %d right" % ("oliver", 5) Might be nice. What would be the type of putStrLn then? The type of putStrLn would remain unchanged. The idea would be to let the compiler translate the string 5454,0000,0000"hello %s, you got %d right" into the function (\ (p1, p2) -> "hello " ++ p1 ++ ", you got " ++ show p2 ++ " right") so that the type system can do its work. Then the % above is only an application. There is of course no need for the tuple; a curried function would probably be more convenient. You may ask, how would the compiler know that this "string" is meant to be a function ? I think it would be nice to have a similar syntax for matching strings and for building strings. Following David's example: q = case x of /"^$" -> "Empty Line." /"^(foo@\d+)" -> /"%s hello!" foo /"confusion (foo@?) (bar@*)" -> /"foo is %s And bar is %s" foo bar /"(a@*)" -> error (/"Sorry: I don't know what to do with %s" a) -- "Choose Again."