Ruby's grammar is complex, but it's object model is incredibly simple.

It'll never catch C++ [1]

[1] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23980929/what-changes-int...

Introduction of a new hash syntax wasn't gratuitous really. I think the point was to make up for the lack of proper keyword arguments. Now that they're available, it's true that it doesn't have a reason to stand on its own, but it does make the code more readable and concise, as does the stabby lambda syntax. Though I do agree with your point on simplicity really, the language does offer way too many ways to do the same thing sometimes.