diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 6f508bde..82536e6a 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ end
 namespace :build do
 
   desc "Recompile the Racc parser (pass -v and -g for verbose debugging)"
-  task :parser, :extra_args do |t, args|
-    sh "racc #{args[:extra_args]} -o lib/coffee_script/parser.rb lib/coffee_script/grammar.y"
+  task :parser, :racc_args do |t, args|
+    sh "racc #{args[:racc_args]} -o lib/coffee_script/parser.rb lib/coffee_script/grammar.y"
   end
 
   desc "Compile the Narwhal interface for --interactive and --run"
diff --git a/lib/coffee_script/grammar.y b/lib/coffee_script/grammar.y
index d0e82c25..f9c4c2df 100644
--- a/lib/coffee_script/grammar.y
+++ b/lib/coffee_script/grammar.y
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ prechigh
   left     '&&' '||' AND OR
   right    '-=' '+=' '/=' '*=' '%='
   right    DELETE INSTANCEOF TYPEOF
-  left     "."
+  left     '.'
   right    THROW FOR IN WHILE NEW SUPER
   left     UNLESS IF ELSE EXTENDS
-  left     ':' '=' '||=' '&&='
+  left     ASSIGN '||=' '&&='
   right    RETURN
 preclow
 
@@ -115,14 +115,13 @@ rule
 
   # Assignment to a variable.
   Assign:
-    Value ":" Expression              { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2]) }
-  | Value "=" Expression              { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2]) }
+    Value ASSIGN Expression         { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2]) }
   ;
 
   # Assignment within an object literal.
   AssignObj:
-    IDENTIFIER ":" Expression         { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2], :object) }
-  | STRING ":" Expression             { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2], :object) }
+    IDENTIFIER ASSIGN Expression    { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2], :object) }
+  | STRING ASSIGN Expression        { result = AssignNode.new(val[0], val[2], :object) }
   | Comment                           { result = val[0] }
   ;
 
diff --git a/lib/coffee_script/lexer.rb b/lib/coffee_script/lexer.rb
index 324c4e57..96a31877 100644
--- a/lib/coffee_script/lexer.rb
+++ b/lib/coffee_script/lexer.rb
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ module CoffeeScript
     # Tokens that always constitute the end of an expression.
     EXP_END    = ['}', ')', ']']
 
+    # Assignment tokens.
+    ASSIGN     = [':', '=']
+
     # Scan by attempting to match tokens one character at a time. Slow and steady.
     def tokenize(code)
       @code = code.chomp  # Cleanup code by remove extra line breaks
@@ -139,7 +142,8 @@ module CoffeeScript
       value ||= @chunk[0,1]
       skip_following_newlines if EXP_START.include?(value)
       remove_leading_newlines if EXP_END.include?(value)
-      token(value, value)
+      tag = ASSIGN.include?(value) ? :ASSIGN : value
+      token(tag, value)
       @i += value.length
     end
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/each.tokens b/test/fixtures/each.tokens
index 4304bef4..149a3170 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/each.tokens
+++ b/test/fixtures/each.tokens
@@ -1 +1 @@
-[[:COMMENT, [" The cornerstone, an each implementation.", " Handles objects implementing forEach, arrays, and raw objects."]], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "each"], [":", ":"], [:PARAM, "obj"], [",", ","], [:PARAM, "iterator"], [",", ","], [:PARAM, "context"], ["=>", "=>"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "index"], [":", ":"], [:NUMBER, "0"], ["\n", "\n"], [:TRY, "try"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "forEach"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "forEach"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [")", ")"], ["\n", "\n"], [:ELSE, "else"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "isArray"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:OR, "or"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "isArguments"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "call"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "item"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "i"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:FOR, "for"], [:IDENTIFIER, "item"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "i"], [:IN, "in"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:ELSE, "else"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "call"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], ["[", "["], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], ["]", "]"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:FOR, "for"], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], [:IN, "in"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "keys"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [".", "."], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:CATCH, "catch"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], ["\n", "\n"], [:THROW, "throw"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], [:ISNT, "isnt"], [:IDENTIFIER, "breaker"], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [".", "."]]
\ No newline at end of file
+[[:COMMENT, [" The cornerstone, an each implementation.", " Handles objects implementing forEach, arrays, and raw objects."]], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "each"], [:ASSIGN, ":"], [:PARAM, "obj"], [",", ","], [:PARAM, "iterator"], [",", ","], [:PARAM, "context"], ["=>", "=>"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "index"], [:ASSIGN, ":"], [:NUMBER, "0"], ["\n", "\n"], [:TRY, "try"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "forEach"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "forEach"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [")", ")"], ["\n", "\n"], [:ELSE, "else"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "isArray"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:OR, "or"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "isArguments"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "call"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "item"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "i"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:FOR, "for"], [:IDENTIFIER, "item"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "i"], [:IN, "in"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:ELSE, "else"], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "iterator"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "call"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "context"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], ["[", "["], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], ["]", "]"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], [",", ","], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [:FOR, "for"], [:IDENTIFIER, "key"], [:IN, "in"], [:IDENTIFIER, "_"], [:PROPERTY_ACCESS, "."], [:IDENTIFIER, "keys"], ["(", "("], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [")", ")"], [".", "."], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:CATCH, "catch"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], ["\n", "\n"], [:THROW, "throw"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], [:IF, "if"], [:IDENTIFIER, "e"], [:ISNT, "isnt"], [:IDENTIFIER, "breaker"], [".", "."], ["\n", "\n"], [:IDENTIFIER, "obj"], [".", "."]]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/execution/test_everything.cs b/test/fixtures/execution/test_everything.cs
index 827c80e1..f0a866dc 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/execution/test_everything.cs
+++ b/test/fixtures/execution/test_everything.cs
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ func: =>
   else
     c.text + '---'.
 
-  c.list: l for l in c.text.split('') if l is '-'.
+  d = {
+    text = c.text
+  }
+
+  c.list: l for l in d.text.split('') if l is '-'.
 
   c.single: c.list[1, 1][0].
 
diff --git a/test/unit/test_lexer.rb b/test/unit/test_lexer.rb
index 0f3297b4..b626e4f3 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_lexer.rb
+++ b/test/unit/test_lexer.rb
@@ -12,14 +12,14 @@ class LexerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
   def test_lexing_basic_assignment
     code = "a: 'one'; b: [1, 2]"
-    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [[:IDENTIFIER, "a"], [":", ":"],
-      [:STRING, "'one'"], [";", ";"], [:IDENTIFIER, "b"], [":", ":"],
+    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [[:IDENTIFIER, "a"], [:ASSIGN, ":"],
+      [:STRING, "'one'"], [";", ";"], [:IDENTIFIER, "b"], [:ASSIGN, ":"],
       ["[", "["], [:NUMBER, "1"], [",", ","], [:NUMBER, "2"], ["]", "]"]]
   end
 
   def test_lexing_object_literal
     code = "{one : 1}"
-    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [["{", "{"], [:IDENTIFIER, "one"], [":", ":"],
+    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [["{", "{"], [:IDENTIFIER, "one"], [:ASSIGN, ":"],
       [:NUMBER, "1"], ["}", "}"]]
   end
 
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ class LexerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
   def test_lexing_comment
     code = "a: 1\n # comment\n # on two lines\nb: 2"
-    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [[:IDENTIFIER, "a"], [":", ":"], [:NUMBER, "1"],
+    assert @lex.tokenize(code) == [[:IDENTIFIER, "a"], [:ASSIGN, ":"], [:NUMBER, "1"],
     ["\n", "\n"], [:COMMENT, [" comment", " on two lines"]], ["\n", "\n"],
-    [:IDENTIFIER, "b"], [":", ":"], [:NUMBER, "2"]]
+    [:IDENTIFIER, "b"], [:ASSIGN, ":"], [:NUMBER, "2"]]
   end
 
   def test_lexing