diff --git a/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser.hs b/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser.hs
index 1dae668c7b8..a7cef6667ef 100644
--- a/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser.hs
+++ b/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser.hs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ varTerm :: Parser PTerm
 varTerm = Var <$> getSourcePos <*> name
 
 tyAbsTerm :: Parser PTerm
-tyAbsTerm = TyAbs <$> wordPos "abs" <*> tyName  <*> kind <*> term
+tyAbsTerm = inParens $ TyAbs <$> wordPos "abs" <*> tyName  <*> kind <*> term
 
 lamTerm :: Parser PTerm
 lamTerm = inParens $ LamAbs <$> wordPos "lam" <*> name <*> pType <*> term
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ conTerm = inParens $ do
     pure $ Constant p con
 
 builtinTerm :: Parser PTerm
-builtinTerm = inParens $ Builtin <$> wordPos "builtin" <*> builtinFunction
+builtinTerm = inParens $ do
+    p <- wordPos "builtin"
+    fn <- builtinFunction
+    pure $ Builtin p fn
+    -- Builtin <$> wordPos "builtin" <*> builtinFunction
 
 tyInstTerm :: Parser PTerm
 tyInstTerm = inBraces $ TyInst <$> getSourcePos <*> term <*> pType
@@ -61,10 +65,8 @@ errorTerm = inParens $ Error <$> wordPos "error" <*> pType
 
 -- | Parser for all PLC terms.
 term :: Parser PTerm
-term = try $ choice
-    [ inParens term
-    , varTerm
-    , tyAbsTerm
+term = choice $ map try
+    [ tyAbsTerm
     , lamTerm
     , appTerm
     , conTerm
@@ -73,6 +75,7 @@ term = try $ choice
     , unwrapTerm
     , iwrapTerm
     , errorTerm
+    , varTerm
     ]
 
 -- | Parse a PLC program. The resulting program will have fresh names. The underlying monad must be capable
diff --git a/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser/ParserCommon.hs b/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser/ParserCommon.hs
index 14ce9222ba6..353c354ccd6 100644
--- a/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser/ParserCommon.hs
+++ b/plutus-core/plutus-core/src/PlutusCore/Parser/ParserCommon.hs
@@ -114,13 +114,13 @@ kind = inParens (typeKind <|> funKind)
 pType :: Parser PType
 pType = choice
     [inParens pType
-    , varType
     , funType
     , ifixType
     , allType
     , builtinType
     , lamType
     , inBrackets appType
+    , varType
     ]
 
 defaultUniType :: Parser (SomeTypeIn DefaultUni)
@@ -131,41 +131,31 @@ defaultUniType = choice
   , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniString <$ symbol "string"
   , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniUnit <$ symbol "unit"
   , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniBool <$ symbol "bool"
-  , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniProtoList <$ symbol "list"
-  , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniProtoPair <$ symbol "pair"
+--   , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniProtoList <$ symbol "list"
+--   , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniProtoPair <$ symbol "pair"
   -- , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniApply <$ symbol "?" TODO need to make this an operator
-  , SomeTypeIn DefaultUniData <$ symbol "data" ]
-
-lbracket :: Parser T.Text
-lbracket = symbol "["
-rbracket :: Parser T.Text
-rbracket = symbol "]"
-
-lbrace :: Parser T.Text
-lbrace = symbol "{"
-rbrace :: Parser T.Text
-rbrace = symbol "}"
+    ]
 
 inParens :: Parser a -> Parser a
 inParens = between (symbol "(") (symbol ")")
 
 inBrackets :: Parser a -> Parser a
-inBrackets = between lbracket rbracket
+inBrackets = between (symbol "[") (symbol "]")
 
 inBraces :: Parser a-> Parser a
-inBraces = between lbrace rbrace
+inBraces = between (symbol "{") (symbol "}")
 
 isIdentifierChar :: Char -> Bool
 isIdentifierChar c = isAlphaNum c || c == '_' || c == '\''
 
 -- | Create a parser that matches the input word and returns its source position.
 -- This is for attaching source positions to parsed terms/programs.
--- getSourcePos is not cheap, don't call it on matching of every token.
 wordPos ::
     -- | The word to match
     T.Text -> Parser SourcePos
 wordPos w = lexeme $ try $ getSourcePos <* symbol w
 
+-- | The list of parsable default functions and their pretty print correspondence.
 builtinFnList :: [(DefaultFun, T.Text)]
 builtinFnList =
     [ (AddInteger,"addInteger")
@@ -223,9 +213,9 @@ builtinFnList =
 
 builtinFunction :: Parser DefaultFun
 builtinFunction =
-    lexeme $ try $ choice $
+    choice $
         map
-            (\(fn, text) -> fn <$ symbol text)
+            (try . (\(fn, text) -> fn <$ symbol text))
             builtinFnList
 
 version :: Parser (Version SourcePos)
@@ -291,7 +281,7 @@ conBool = choice
 -- conData = someValue Data? <$ symbol "data"
 
 constant :: Parser (Some (ValueOf DefaultUni))
-constant = try $ choice
+constant = choice $ map try
     [ inParens constant
     , conInt
     , conChar
diff --git a/plutus-core/plutus-ir/src/PlutusIR/Parser.hs b/plutus-core/plutus-ir/src/PlutusIR/Parser.hs
index e8033fddb82..f69323e201f 100644
--- a/plutus-core/plutus-ir/src/PlutusIR/Parser.hs
+++ b/plutus-core/plutus-ir/src/PlutusIR/Parser.hs
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ tyInstTerm :: Parser PTerm
 tyInstTerm = PIR.mkIterInst <$> getSourcePos <*> pTerm <*> some pType
 
 pTerm :: Parser PTerm
-pTerm = try $ choice
+pTerm = choice $ map try
     [ inParens pTerm
     , absTerm
     , lamTerm