diff --git a/src/cargo/cargo.rs b/src/cargo/cargo.rs
index 0aef3ff9e133..0acd3e4f1c8e 100644
--- a/src/cargo/cargo.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/cargo.rs
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ fn rest(s: str, start: uint) -> str {
     if (start >= str::char_len(s)) {
         ""
     } else {
-        str::char_slice(s, start, str::char_len(s))
+        str::slice(s, start, str::char_len(s))
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libcore/str.rs b/src/libcore/str.rs
index c5e037b276d7..f632e58eea7f 100644
--- a/src/libcore/str.rs
+++ b/src/libcore/str.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export
    bytes,
    chars,
    substr,
-   char_slice,
+   slice,
    split,
    splitn,
    split_str,
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ fn substr(s: str, begin: uint, len: uint) -> str unsafe {
 }
 
 /*
-Function: char_slice
+Function: slice
 
 Unicode-safe slice. Returns a slice of the given string containing
 the characters in the range [`begin`..`end`). `begin` and `end` are
@@ -438,9 +438,9 @@ Failure:
 - If begin is greater than end
 - If end is greater than the character length of the string
 
-FIXME: rename to slice(), make faster by avoiding char conversion
+FIXME: make faster by avoiding char conversion
 */
-fn char_slice(s: str, begin: uint, end: uint) -> str {
+fn slice(s: str, begin: uint, end: uint) -> str {
     from_chars(vec::slice(chars(s), begin, end))
 }
 
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ fn windowed(nn: uint, ss: str) -> [str] {
 
     let ii = 0u;
     while ii+nn <= len {
-        let w = char_slice( ss, ii, ii+nn );
+        let w = slice( ss, ii, ii+nn );
         vec::push(ww,w);
         ii += 1u;
     }
@@ -675,8 +675,8 @@ fn replace(s: str, from: str, to: str) : is_not_empty(from) -> str unsafe {
         if idx == -1 {
             ret s;
         }
-        ret char_slice(s, 0u, idx as uint) + to +
-            replace(char_slice(s, idx as uint + char_len(from), char_len(s)),
+        ret slice(s, 0u, idx as uint) + to +
+            replace(slice(s, idx as uint + char_len(from), char_len(s)),
                     from, to);
     }
 }
@@ -1658,17 +1658,17 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn test_char_slice() {
-        assert (eq("ab", char_slice("abc", 0u, 2u)));
-        assert (eq("bc", char_slice("abc", 1u, 3u)));
-        assert (eq("", char_slice("abc", 1u, 1u)));
-        assert (eq("\u65e5", char_slice("\u65e5\u672c", 0u, 1u)));
+    fn test_slice() {
+        assert (eq("ab", slice("abc", 0u, 2u)));
+        assert (eq("bc", slice("abc", 1u, 3u)));
+        assert (eq("", slice("abc", 1u, 1u)));
+        assert (eq("\u65e5", slice("\u65e5\u672c", 0u, 1u)));
 
         let data = "ประเทศไทย中华";
-        assert (eq("ป", char_slice(data, 0u, 1u)));
-        assert (eq("ร", char_slice(data, 1u, 2u)));
-        assert (eq("华", char_slice(data, 10u, 11u)));
-        assert (eq("", char_slice(data, 1u, 1u)));
+        assert (eq("ป", slice(data, 0u, 1u)));
+        assert (eq("ร", slice(data, 1u, 2u)));
+        assert (eq("华", slice(data, 10u, 11u)));
+        assert (eq("", slice(data, 1u, 1u)));
 
         fn a_million_letter_X() -> str {
             let i = 0;
@@ -1683,7 +1683,7 @@ mod tests {
             ret rs;
         }
         assert (eq(half_a_million_letter_X(),
-                        char_slice(a_million_letter_X(), 0u, 500000u)));
+                        slice(a_million_letter_X(), 0u, 500000u)));
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/src/libstd/json.rs b/src/libstd/json.rs
index cf0c236afeb7..bb1d0fb64b6b 100644
--- a/src/libstd/json.rs
+++ b/src/libstd/json.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ fn to_str(j: json) -> str {
 
 fn rest(s: str) -> str {
     assert(str::char_len(s) >= 1u);
-    str::char_slice(s, 1u, str::char_len(s))
+    str::slice(s, 1u, str::char_len(s))
 }
 
 fn from_str_str(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ fn from_str_str(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
             cont;
         } else if (c == '"') {
             ret (some(string(res)),
-                 str::char_slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
+                 str::slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
         }
         res = res + str::from_char(c);
     }
@@ -200,12 +200,12 @@ fn from_str_float(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
             }
             '.' { break; }
             _ { ret (some(num(neg * res)),
-                     str::char_slice(s, opos, str::char_len(s))); }
+                     str::slice(s, opos, str::char_len(s))); }
         }
     }
 
     if pos == len {
-        ret (some(num(neg * res)), str::char_slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
+        ret (some(num(neg * res)), str::slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
     }
 
     let dec = 1f;
@@ -220,17 +220,17 @@ fn from_str_float(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
                 res += (((c as int) - ('0' as int)) as float) * dec;
             }
             _ { ret (some(num(neg * res)),
-                     str::char_slice(s, opos, str::char_len(s))); }
+                     str::slice(s, opos, str::char_len(s))); }
         }
     }
-    ret (some(num(neg * res)), str::char_slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
+    ret (some(num(neg * res)), str::slice(s, pos, str::char_len(s)));
 }
 
 fn from_str_bool(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
     if (str::starts_with(s, "true")) {
-        (some(boolean(true)), str::char_slice(s, 4u, str::char_len(s)))
+        (some(boolean(true)), str::slice(s, 4u, str::char_len(s)))
     } else if (str::starts_with(s, "false")) {
-        (some(boolean(false)), str::char_slice(s, 5u, str::char_len(s)))
+        (some(boolean(false)), str::slice(s, 5u, str::char_len(s)))
     } else {
         (none, s)
     }
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ fn from_str_bool(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
 
 fn from_str_null(s: str) -> (option<json>, str) {
     if (str::starts_with(s, "null")) {
-        (some(null), str::char_slice(s, 4u, str::char_len(s)))
+        (some(null), str::slice(s, 4u, str::char_len(s)))
     } else {
         (none, s)
     }
diff --git a/src/rustdoc/unindent_pass.rs b/src/rustdoc/unindent_pass.rs
index 8d6aec733003..9c43ce448641 100644
--- a/src/rustdoc/unindent_pass.rs
+++ b/src/rustdoc/unindent_pass.rs
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ fn unindent(s: str) -> str {
                 line
             } else {
                 assert str::byte_len(line) >= min_indent;
-                str::char_slice(line, min_indent, str::char_len(line))
+                str::slice(line, min_indent, str::char_len(line))
             }
         };
         str::connect(unindented, "\n")