The issue reported in http://article.gmane.org/gmane.lisp.slime.devel/10751 i.e. that when using CCL swank complains of a test failing upon a fresh connection maybe resolved by adding #+ccl (ccl::*print-abbreviate-quote* t) as shown: (defun decoded-arglist-to-string (decoded-arglist &key operator highlight print-right-margin) (with-output-to-string (*standard-output*) (with-arglist-io-syntax (let ((*print-right-margin* print-right-margin) #+ccl (ccl::*print-abbreviate-quote* t)) (print-decoded-arglist decoded-arglist :operator operator :highlight highlight))))) - ben fyi ccl's *print-abbreviate-quote* is an extension, see also http://paste.lisp.org/display/136370