h = {} syms = %w[puts warn syswrite write stat bacon lettuce tomato some symbols in this array may already be interned others should not be hash browns make good breakfast but not cooked using prime numbers shift for division entries delete_if keys exist? ] begin syms = eval("%i[#{syms.join(' ')}]") rescue SyntaxError # <= 1.9.3 syms.map!(&:to_sym) end syms.each { |s| h[s] = s } 200_000.times { syms.each { |s| h[s] } }