Fuzzy string comparison

[John Machin]

Duncan Booth wrote:
> "John Machin" <sjmachin at lexicon.net> wrote:
>
> > To compare two strings, take copies, and:
>
> Taking a copy of a string seems kind of superfluous in Python.

You are right, I really meant don't do:
    original = original.strip().replace(....).replace(....)
(a strange way of doing things which I see occasionally in other folks'
code)

Cheers,
John