I agree, a phrase like "default import" or "default list of symbols" would help to clarify it, as would stating that the default list is used when -- or only if -- no explicit list is supplied on the 'use' statement. That would help make the point that the word "default" refers to a list, rather than to the entities in the list, if that distinction makes any sense to anyone else :-).

I think it's unfortunate that the arrays are named EXPORT and EXPORT_OK, since to me that suggested a "mandatory/optional" relationship.

Thanks for the explanation.