In Python and Ruby (and others as well, I\'m sure). you can prefix an enumerable with * (\"splat\") to use it as an argument list. For instance, in Python:
No, Haskell's type system doesn't like that. Check this similar question for more details:
How do I define Lisp’s apply in Haskell?
BTW, the splat operator you talk about is also known as the apply function, commonly found on dynamical functional languages (like LISP and Javascript).