diff --git a/src/defs.txt b/src/defs.txt
index 0a58722..6b9f328 100644
--- a/src/defs.txt
+++ b/src/defs.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ actor -2300 10 0 pizzeria
 
 actor -50 0 0 suit
     name Icarus
-    chatid "hi_icarus"
+    chatid hi_icarus
     alive yes
     pronoun it
 
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ actor -2265 10 0 suit
 
 actor 0 0 0 error
 
-chat "error"
+chat error
     name "ERROR"
     msg 0 "INIT" "EXIT" "Unspecified conversation ID"
 
-chat "hi_icarus"
+chat hi_icarus
     name "Icarus"
     msg 2 "INIT" "hi" "Requesting permission to communicate..."
         lvl "info"
diff --git a/src/world.rs b/src/world.rs
index 66bc2e4..747d125 100644
--- a/src/world.rs
+++ b/src/world.rs
@@ -361,8 +361,8 @@ pub fn load_defs(
     mut commands: Commands,
     asset_server: Res<AssetServer>,
 ) {
-    let re1 = Regex::new(r"^\s*([a-z]+)\s+(.*)$").unwrap();
-    let re2 = Regex::new("\"([^\"]*)\"|(-?[0-9]+(?:\\.[0-9]+)?)|([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)").unwrap();
+    let re1 = Regex::new(r"^\s*([a-z_-]+)\s+(.*)$").unwrap();
+    let re2 = Regex::new("\"([^\"]*)\"|(-?[0-9]+(?:\\.[0-9]+)?)|([a-zA-Z_-][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*)").unwrap();
     let defs_string = include_str!("defs.txt");
     let mut lines = defs_string.lines();
     let mut state = ParserState::default();