diff --git a/lib/blankslate.rb b/lib/blankslate.rb
index a90d5f7..931c8a7 100644
--- a/lib/blankslate.rb
+++ b/lib/blankslate.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,30 @@
 # above copyright notice is included.
 #++
 
+class String
+  if instance_methods.first.is_a?(Symbol)
+    def _blankslate_as_name
+      to_sym
+    end
+  else
+    def _blankslate_as_name
+      self
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+class Symbol
+  if instance_methods.first.is_a?(Symbol)
+    def _blankslate_as_name
+      self
+    end
+  else
+    def _blankslate_as_name
+      to_s
+    end
+  end
+end
+
 ######################################################################
 # BlankSlate provides an abstract base class with no predefined
 # methods (except for <tt>\_\_send__</tt> and <tt>\_\_id__</tt>).
@@ -16,16 +40,20 @@
 #
 class BlankSlate
   class << self
-    
+
     # Hide the method named +name+ in the BlankSlate class.  Don't
     # hide +instance_eval+ or any method beginning with "__".
     def hide(name)
-      if instance_methods.map(&:to_sym).include?(name.to_sym) and
-        name !~ /^(__|instance_eval|object_id)/
+      warn_level = $VERBOSE
+      $VERBOSE = nil
+      if instance_methods.include?(name._blankslate_as_name) &&
+          name !~ /^(__|instance_eval$)/
         @hidden_methods ||= {}
         @hidden_methods[name.to_sym] = instance_method(name)
         undef_method name
       end
+    ensure
+      $VERBOSE = warn_level
     end
 
     def find_hidden_method(name)
@@ -41,7 +69,7 @@ def reveal(name)
       define_method(name, hidden_method)
     end
   end
-  
+
   instance_methods.each { |m| hide(m) }
 end
 
@@ -106,4 +134,4 @@ def append_features(mod)
     end
     result
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end