From: Tim Fletcher Date: 2006-08-18T17:20:16+09:00 Subject: Re: double_metaphone.rb Not sure it's worth a gem, as it's quite easy just to drop in. As for symbols/strings, the string is already there and generated, so might as well return it. It's easy enough to use to_sym, if that's what your application needs/prefers. Forgot to mention: if anyone's looking for the regular (non Double) Ruby metaphone, it's at http://po-ru.com/projects/metaphone/