There is always someone claiming language"x" is a lisp with modern syntax, but that is simply not true. I'm not sure if there is a good definition of lisp, but homoiconicity is essential and to my knowledge only in languages like lisp (scheme, common lisp, racket...etc) and Rebol. Yes Elixir has a REPL and metaprogramming and the super awesome messaging model of Erlang, but it is not a modern lisp, rather a modern Erlang in my opinion. Note: I'm not a lisp user (I have dabbled) and am not arguing superiority, just that it's an apples to oranges comparison.