diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6e3565c..578fb39 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ## HEAD (unreleased)
 
+- Fix explanation involving shorthand syntax for literals like `%w[]` and `%Q{}` (https://github.com/zombocom/dead_end/pull/116)
+
 ## 3.0.2
 
 - Fix windows filename detection (https://github.com/zombocom/dead_end/pull/114)
diff --git a/lib/dead_end/left_right_lex_count.rb b/lib/dead_end/left_right_lex_count.rb
index 1430ac8..3b71ade 100644
--- a/lib/dead_end/left_right_lex_count.rb
+++ b/lib/dead_end/left_right_lex_count.rb
@@ -61,6 +61,17 @@ def count_lex(lex)
         # ^^^
         # Means it's a string or a symbol `"{"` rather than being
         # part of a data structure (like a hash) `{ a: b }`
+        # ignore it.
+      when :on_words_beg, :on_symbos_beg, :on_qwords_beg,
+           :on_qsymbols_beg, :on_regexp_beg, :on_tstring_beg
+        # ^^^
+        # Handle shorthand syntaxes like `%Q{ i am a string }`
+        #
+        # The start token will be the full thing `%Q{` but we
+        # need to count it as if it's a `{`. Any token
+        # can be used
+        char = lex.token[-1]
+        @count_for_char[char] += 1 if @count_for_char.key?(char)
       when :on_embexpr_beg
         # ^^^
         # Embedded string expressions like `"#{foo} <-embed"`
diff --git a/spec/unit/explain_syntax_spec.rb b/spec/unit/explain_syntax_spec.rb
index a9ea9af..5d0905b 100644
--- a/spec/unit/explain_syntax_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/explain_syntax_spec.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,18 @@
 
 module DeadEnd
   RSpec.describe "ExplainSyntax" do
+    it "handles %w[]" do
+      source = <<~EOM
+        node.is_a?(Op) && %w[| ||].include?(node.value) &&
+      EOM
+
+      explain = ExplainSyntax.new(
+        code_lines: CodeLine.from_source(source)
+      ).call
+
+      expect(explain.missing).to eq([])
+    end
+
     it "doesn't falsely identify strings or symbols as critical chars" do
       source = <<~EOM
         a = ['(', '{', '[', '|']