diff --git a/src/expr.jl b/src/expr.jl
index 6d1e8ed6..fd61243c 100644
--- a/src/expr.jl
+++ b/src/expr.jl
@@ -326,6 +326,10 @@ function _internal_node_to_Expr(source, srcrange, head, childranges, childheads,
                 args = Any[args[1], a2a...]
             end
         end
+    elseif k == K"catch"
+        if kind(childheads[1]) == K"Placeholder"
+            args[1] = false
+        end
     elseif k == K"try"
         # Try children in source order:
         #   try_block catch_var catch_block else_block finally_block
diff --git a/src/kinds.jl b/src/kinds.jl
index 30d16e3e..27d90c22 100644
--- a/src/kinds.jl
+++ b/src/kinds.jl
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ register_kinds!(JuliaSyntax, 0, [
     # Identifiers
     "BEGIN_IDENTIFIERS"
         "Identifier"
+        "Placeholder" # Used for empty catch variables, and all-underscore identifiers in lowering
         # Macro names are modelled as special kinds of identifiers because the full
         # macro name may not appear as characters in the source: The `@` may be
         # detached from the macro name as in `@A.x` (ugh!!), or have a _str or _cmd
@@ -253,6 +254,7 @@ register_kinds!(JuliaSyntax, 0, [
     "END_KEYWORDS"
 
     "BEGIN_LITERAL"
+        "Bool"
         "Integer"
         "BinInt"
         "HexInt"
@@ -262,8 +264,6 @@ register_kinds!(JuliaSyntax, 0, [
         "String"
         "Char"
         "CmdString"
-        "true"
-        "false"
     "END_LITERAL"
 
     "BEGIN_DELIMITERS"
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ register_kinds!(JuliaSyntax, 0, [
 
     # Special tokens
     "TOMBSTONE"    # Empty placeholder for kind to be filled later
-    "None"         # Placeholder; never emitted by lexer
+    "None"         # Never emitted by lexer/parser
     "EndMarker"    # EOF
 
     "BEGIN_ERRORS"
@@ -1097,6 +1097,7 @@ const _nonunique_kind_names = Set([
     K"Whitespace"
     K"NewlineWs"
     K"Identifier"
+    K"Placeholder"
 
     K"ErrorEofMultiComment"
     K"ErrorInvalidNumericConstant"
@@ -1169,6 +1170,7 @@ const _token_error_descriptions = Dict{Kind, String}(
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Predicates
+is_identifier(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_IDENTIFIERS" <= k <= K"END_IDENTIFIERS"
 is_contextual_keyword(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_CONTEXTUAL_KEYWORDS" <= k <= K"END_CONTEXTUAL_KEYWORDS"
 is_error(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_ERRORS" <= k <= K"END_ERRORS" || k == K"ErrorInvalidOperator" || k == K"Error**"
 is_keyword(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_KEYWORDS" <= k <= K"END_KEYWORDS"
@@ -1177,6 +1179,7 @@ is_literal(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_LITERAL" <= k <= K"END_LITERAL"
 is_operator(k::Kind) = K"BEGIN_OPS" <= k <= K"END_OPS"
 is_word_operator(k::Kind) = (k == K"in" || k == K"isa" || k == K"where")
 
+is_identifier(k) = is_identifier(kind(k))
 is_contextual_keyword(k) = is_contextual_keyword(kind(k))
 is_error(k) = is_error(kind(k))
 is_keyword(k) = is_keyword(kind(k))
diff --git a/src/literal_parsing.jl b/src/literal_parsing.jl
index 5a744f97..f2b99b86 100644
--- a/src/literal_parsing.jl
+++ b/src/literal_parsing.jl
@@ -406,10 +406,8 @@ function parse_julia_literal(txtbuf::Vector{UInt8}, head::SyntaxHead, srcrange)
                                               last(srcrange)+1, Diagnostic[])
         end
         return had_error ? ErrorVal() : String(take!(io))
-    elseif k == K"true"
-        return true
-    elseif k == K"false"
-        return false
+    elseif k == K"Bool"
+        return txtbuf[first(srcrange)] == u8"t"
     end
 
     # TODO: Avoid allocating temporary String here
@@ -418,7 +416,7 @@ function parse_julia_literal(txtbuf::Vector{UInt8}, head::SyntaxHead, srcrange)
         parse_int_literal(val_str)
     elseif k in KSet"BinInt OctInt HexInt"
         parse_uint_literal(val_str, k)
-    elseif k == K"Identifier"
+    elseif k == K"Identifier" || k == K"Placeholder"
         if has_flags(head, RAW_STRING_FLAG)
             io = IOBuffer()
             unescape_raw_string(io, txtbuf, first(srcrange), last(srcrange)+1, false)
diff --git a/src/parser.jl b/src/parser.jl
index 8da46517..49697964 100644
--- a/src/parser.jl
+++ b/src/parser.jl
@@ -2254,7 +2254,7 @@ function parse_try(ps)
     if peek(ps) == K"else"
         # catch-else syntax: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/42211
         #
-        #v1.8: try catch ; else end ==> (try (block) (catch false (block)) (else (block)))
+        #v1.8: try catch ; else end ==> (try (block) (catch □ (block)) (else (block)))
         else_mark = position(ps)
         bump(ps, TRIVIA_FLAG)
         parse_block(ps)
@@ -2262,7 +2262,7 @@ function parse_try(ps)
             #v1.8: try else x finally y end ==> (try (block) (else (error (block x))) (finally (block y)))
             emit(ps, else_mark, K"error", error="Expected `catch` before `else`")
         end
-        #v1.7: try catch ; else end ==> (try (block) (catch false (block)) (else (error (block))))
+        #v1.7: try catch ; else end ==> (try (block) (catch □ (block)) (else (error (block))))
         min_supported_version(v"1.8", ps, else_mark, "`else` after `catch`")
         emit(ps, else_mark, K"else")
     end
@@ -2302,10 +2302,10 @@ function parse_catch(ps::ParseState)
     bump(ps, TRIVIA_FLAG)
     k = peek(ps)
     if k in KSet"NewlineWs ;" || is_closing_token(ps, k)
-        # try x catch end      ==>  (try (block x) (catch false (block)))
-        # try x catch ; y end  ==>  (try (block x) (catch false (block y)))
-        # try x catch \n y end ==>  (try (block x) (catch false (block y)))
-        bump_invisible(ps, K"false")
+        # try x catch end      ==>  (try (block x) (catch □ (block)))
+        # try x catch ; y end  ==>  (try (block x) (catch □ (block y)))
+        # try x catch \n y end ==>  (try (block x) (catch □ (block y)))
+        bump_invisible(ps, K"Placeholder")
     else
         # try x catch e y end   ==>  (try (block x) (catch e (block y)))
         # try x catch $e y end  ==>  (try (block x) (catch ($ e) (block y)))
diff --git a/src/syntax_tree.jl b/src/syntax_tree.jl
index af2d3e31..38d853c0 100644
--- a/src/syntax_tree.jl
+++ b/src/syntax_tree.jl
@@ -125,6 +125,19 @@ byte_range(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = node.position:(node.position + span(node)
 
 sourcefile(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = node.source
 
+function leaf_string(ex)
+    if !is_leaf(ex)
+        throw(ArgumentError("_value_string should be used for leaf nodes only"))
+    end
+    k = kind(ex)
+    value = ex.val
+    # TODO: Dispatch on kind extension module (??)
+    return k == K"Placeholder" ? "□"*string(value) :
+           is_identifier(k)    ? string(value)     :
+           value isa Symbol    ? string(value)     : # see parse_julia_literal for other cases which go here
+           repr(value)
+end
+
 function _show_syntax_node(io, current_filename, node::AbstractSyntaxNode,
                            indent, show_byte_offsets)
     fname = filename(node)
@@ -134,8 +147,7 @@ function _show_syntax_node(io, current_filename, node::AbstractSyntaxNode,
         posstr *= "$(lpad(first_byte(node),6)):$(rpad(last_byte(node),6))│"
     end
     val = node.val
-    nodestr = !is_leaf(node) ? "[$(untokenize(head(node)))]" :
-              isa(val, Symbol) ? string(val) : repr(val)
+    nodestr = is_leaf(node) ? leaf_string(node) : "[$(untokenize(head(node)))]"
     treestr = string(indent, nodestr)
     # Add filename if it's changed from the previous node
     if fname != current_filename[]
@@ -157,8 +169,7 @@ function _show_syntax_node_sexpr(io, node::AbstractSyntaxNode)
         if is_error(node)
             print(io, "(", untokenize(head(node)), ")")
         else
-            val = node.val
-            print(io, val isa Symbol ? string(val) : repr(val))
+            print(io, leaf_string(node))
         end
     else
         print(io, "(", untokenize(head(node)))
diff --git a/src/tokenize.jl b/src/tokenize.jl
index de2daa0f..af78bee4 100644
--- a/src/tokenize.jl
+++ b/src/tokenize.jl
@@ -1319,8 +1319,10 @@ function lex_identifier(l::Lexer, c)
 
     if n > MAX_KW_LENGTH
         emit(l, K"Identifier")
+    elseif h == _true_hash || h == _false_hash
+        emit(l, K"Bool")
     else
-        emit(l, get(kw_hash, h, K"Identifier"))
+        emit(l, get(_kw_hash, h, K"Identifier"))
     end
 end
 
@@ -1374,8 +1376,6 @@ K"while",
 K"in",
 K"isa",
 K"where",
-K"true",
-K"false",
 
 K"abstract",
 K"as",
@@ -1387,6 +1387,8 @@ K"type",
 K"var",
 ]
 
-const kw_hash = Dict(simple_hash(lowercase(string(kw))) => kw for kw in kws)
+const _true_hash = simple_hash("true")
+const _false_hash = simple_hash("false")
+const _kw_hash = Dict(simple_hash(lowercase(string(kw))) => kw for kw in kws)
 
 end # module
diff --git a/test/parser.jl b/test/parser.jl
index 70842a4d..b4fac482 100644
--- a/test/parser.jl
+++ b/test/parser.jl
@@ -635,18 +635,18 @@ tests = [
             "(try (block x) (catch e (block y)) (finally (block z)))"
         ((v=v"1.8",), "try \n x \n catch e \n y \n else z finally \n w end") =>
             "(try (block x) (catch e (block y)) (else (block z)) (finally (block w)))"
-        "try x catch end"       =>  "(try (block x) (catch false (block)))"
-        "try x catch ; y end"   =>  "(try (block x) (catch false (block y)))"
-        "try x catch \n y end"  =>  "(try (block x) (catch false (block y)))"
+        "try x catch end"       =>  "(try (block x) (catch □ (block)))"
+        "try x catch ; y end"   =>  "(try (block x) (catch □ (block y)))"
+        "try x catch \n y end"  =>  "(try (block x) (catch □ (block y)))"
         "try x catch e y end"   =>  "(try (block x) (catch e (block y)))"
         "try x catch \$e y end" =>  "(try (block x) (catch (\$ e) (block y)))"
         "try x catch var\"#\" y end" => "(try (block x) (catch (var #) (block y)))"
         "try x catch e+3 y end" =>  "(try (block x) (catch (error (call-i e + 3)) (block y)))"
         "try x finally y end"   =>  "(try (block x) (finally (block y)))"
         # v1.8 only
-        ((v=v"1.8",), "try catch ; else end") => "(try (block) (catch false (block)) (else (block)))"
+        ((v=v"1.8",), "try catch ; else end") => "(try (block) (catch □ (block)) (else (block)))"
         ((v=v"1.8",), "try else x finally y end") => "(try (block) (else (error (block x))) (finally (block y)))"
-        ((v=v"1.7",), "try catch ; else end")  =>  "(try (block) (catch false (block)) (else (error (block))))"
+        ((v=v"1.7",), "try catch ; else end")  =>  "(try (block) (catch □ (block)) (else (error (block))))"
         # finally before catch :-(
         "try x finally y catch e z end"  =>  "(try (block x) (finally (block y)) (catch e (block z)))"
         "try x end" => "(try (block x) (error-t))"
diff --git a/test/tokenize.jl b/test/tokenize.jl
index eb30370f..8913a20c 100644
--- a/test/tokenize.jl
+++ b/test/tokenize.jl
@@ -198,9 +198,10 @@ end
 end
 
 @testset "tokenizing true/false literals" begin
-    @test tok("somtext true", 3).kind == K"true"
-    @test tok("somtext false", 3).kind == K"false"
+    @test tok("somtext true", 3).kind == K"Bool"
+    @test tok("somtext false", 3).kind == K"Bool"
     @test tok("somtext tr", 3).kind == K"Identifier"
+    @test tok("somtext truething", 3).kind == K"Identifier"
     @test tok("somtext falsething", 3).kind == K"Identifier"
 end
 
@@ -962,9 +963,6 @@ const all_kws = Set([
     "primitive",
     "type",
     "var",
-    # Literals
-    "true",
-    "false",
     # Word-like operators
     "in",
     "isa",
@@ -974,14 +972,14 @@ const all_kws = Set([
 function check_kw_hashes(iter)
     for cs in iter
         str = String([cs...])
-        if Tokenize.simple_hash(str) in keys(Tokenize.kw_hash)
+        if Tokenize.simple_hash(str) in keys(Tokenize._kw_hash)
             @test str in all_kws
         end
     end
 end
 
 @testset "simple_hash" begin
-    @test length(all_kws) == length(Tokenize.kw_hash)
+    @test length(all_kws) == length(Tokenize._kw_hash)
 
     @testset "Length $len keywords" for len in 1:5
         check_kw_hashes(String([cs...]) for cs in Iterators.product(['a':'z' for _ in 1:len]...))