diff --git a/src/corkendall.jl b/src/corkendall.jl
index 783cb52..a460c47 100644
--- a/src/corkendall.jl
+++ b/src/corkendall.jl
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ function corkendall(x::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U}; skipmissing::Symbol=:none)
 
     Base.require_one_based_indexing(x, y)
     length(x) == length(y) || throw(DimensionMismatch("x and y have inconsistent dimensions"))
-    (x isa Vector{Missing} || y isa Vector{Missing})  && return NaN
+    (x isa Vector{Missing} || y isa Vector{Missing}) && return NaN
 
     x = copy(x)
     x, y = handlelistwise(x, y, skipmissing)
@@ -121,12 +121,12 @@ function corkendall(x::RoMMatrix{T}, y::RoMMatrix{U}=x; skipmissing::Symbol=:non
     # good multi-threaded performance. One vector per thread to avoid cross-talk between
     # threads.
     duplicate(x, n) = [copy(x) for _ in 1:n]
-    scratchyvectors = duplicate(similar(y, m), n_duplicates)
+    scratchpermutedys = duplicate(similar(y, m), n_duplicates)
     ycolis = duplicate(similar(y, m), n_duplicates)
     xcoljsorteds = duplicate(similar(x, m), n_duplicates)
     permxs = duplicate(zeros(Int, m), n_duplicates)
-    txs = duplicate(Vector{T}(undef, m), n_duplicates)
-    tys = duplicate(Vector{U}(undef, m), n_duplicates)
+    scratchxs = duplicate(Vector{T}(undef, m), n_duplicates)
+    scratchys = duplicate(Vector{U}(undef, m), n_duplicates)
 
     #= Use the "static scheduler". This is the "quickfix, but not recommended longterm"
     way of avoiding concurrency bugs. See https://julialang.org/blog/2023/07/PSA-dont-use-threadid/#fixing_buggy_code_which_uses_this_pattern
@@ -142,12 +142,12 @@ function corkendall(x::RoMMatrix{T}, y::RoMMatrix{U}=x; skipmissing::Symbol=:non
             id = Threads.threadid()
         end
 
-        scratchyvector = scratchyvectors[id]
+        scratchpermutedy = scratchpermutedys[id]
         ycoli = ycolis[id]
         xcoljsorted = xcoljsorteds[id]
         permx = permxs[id]
-        tx = txs[id]
-        ty = tys[id]
+        scratchx = scratchxs[id]
+        scratchy = scratchys[id]
 
         sortperm!(permx, view(x, :, j))
         @inbounds for k in eachindex(xcoljsorted)
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ function corkendall(x::RoMMatrix{T}, y::RoMMatrix{U}=x; skipmissing::Symbol=:non
 
         for i = 1:(symmetric ? j - 1 : nc)
             ycoli .= view(y, :, i)
-            C[j, i] = corkendall_sorted!(xcoljsorted, ycoli, permx, scratchyvector, tx, ty)
+            C[j, i] = corkendall_sorted!(xcoljsorted, ycoli, permx, scratchpermutedy, scratchx, scratchy)
             symmetric && (C[i, j] = C[j, i])
         end
     end
@@ -180,8 +180,8 @@ end
 # JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2282833.
 """
     corkendall_sorted!(sortedx::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U},
-    permx::AbstractVector{<:Integer}, scratchyvector::RoMVector, 
-    tx::AbstractVector{T}, ty::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
+    permx::AbstractVector{<:Integer}, scratchpermutedy::RoMVector, 
+    scratchx::AbstractVector{T}, scratchy::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
 
 Kendall correlation between two vectors but this function omits the initial sorting of
 the first argument. So calculating Kendall correlation between `x` and `y` is a two stage
@@ -189,27 +189,29 @@ process: a) sort `x` to get `sortedx`; b) call this function on `sortedx` and `y
 subsequent arguments being:
 - `permx::AbstractVector{<:Integer}`: the permutation that achieved the sorting of `x` to
     yield `sortedx`.
-- `scratchyvector::RoMVector`: a vector of the same element type and length as `y`; used
+- `scratchpermutedy::RoMVector`: a vector of the same element type and length as `y`; used
     to permute `y` without allocation.
-- `tx, ty`: vectors of the same length as `x` and `y` whose element types match the types
+- `scratchx, scratchy`: vectors of the same length as `x` and `y` whose element types match the types
     of the non-missing elements of `x` and `y` respectively; used (in the call to 
     `handlepairwise!`) to avoid allocations.
 """
 function corkendall_sorted!(sortedx::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U},
-    permx::AbstractVector{<:Integer}, scratchyvector::RoMVector{U},
-    tx::AbstractVector{T}, ty::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
+    permx::AbstractVector{<:Integer}, scratchpermutedy::RoMVector{U},
+    scratchx::AbstractVector{T}, scratchy::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
+
+    length(sortedx) >= 2 || return NaN
 
     @inbounds for i in eachindex(y)
-        scratchyvector[i] = y[permx[i]]
-    end
-    if missing isa eltype(sortedx) || missing isa eltype(scratchyvector)
-        sortedx, scratchyvector = handlepairwise!(sortedx, scratchyvector, tx, ty)
+        scratchpermutedy[i] = y[permx[i]]
     end
-    length(sortedx) >= 2 || return NaN
 
-    shuffledy = scratchyvector
+    if missing isa eltype(sortedx) || missing isa eltype(scratchpermutedy)
+        sortedx, permutedy = handlepairwise!(sortedx, scratchpermutedy, scratchx, scratchy)
+    else
+        permutedy = scratchpermutedy
+    end
 
-    if any(isnan, sortedx) || any(isnan, shuffledy)
+    if any(isnan, sortedx) || any(isnan, permutedy)
         return NaN
     end
     n = length(sortedx)
@@ -223,23 +225,23 @@ function corkendall_sorted!(sortedx::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U},
         if sortedx[i-1] == sortedx[i]
             k += 1
         elseif k > 0
-            # Sort the corresponding chunk of shuffledy, so the rows of hcat(sortedx,shuffledy)
-            # are sorted first on sortedx, then (where sortedx values are tied) on shuffledy.
+            # Sort the corresponding chunk of permutedy, so the rows of hcat(sortedx,permutedy)
+            # are sorted first on sortedx, then (where sortedx values are tied) on permutedy.
             # Hence double ties can be counted by calling countties.
-            sort!(view(shuffledy, (i-k-1):(i-1)))
+            sort!(view(permutedy, (i-k-1):(i-1)))
             ntiesx += div(widen(k) * (k + 1), 2) # Must use wide integers here
-            ndoubleties += countties(shuffledy, i - k - 1, i - 1)
+            ndoubleties += countties(permutedy, i - k - 1, i - 1)
             k = 0
         end
     end
     if k > 0
-        sort!(view(shuffledy, (n-k):n))
+        sort!(view(permutedy, (n-k):n))
         ntiesx += div(widen(k) * (k + 1), 2)
-        ndoubleties += countties(shuffledy, n - k, n)
+        ndoubleties += countties(permutedy, n - k, n)
     end
 
-    nswaps = merge_sort!(shuffledy, 1, n, ty)
-    ntiesy = countties(shuffledy, 1, n)
+    nswaps = merge_sort!(permutedy, 1, n, scratchy)
+    ntiesy = countties(permutedy, 1, n)
 
     # Calls to float below prevent possible overflow errors when
     # length(sortedx) exceeds 77_936 (32 bit) or 5_107_605_667 (64 bit)
@@ -390,25 +392,25 @@ end
 
 """
     handlepairwise!(x::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U},
-    tx::AbstractVector{T}, ty::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
+    scratchx::AbstractVector{T}, scratchy::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
 
 Return a pair `(a,b)`, filtered copies of `(x,y)`, in which elements `x[i]` and
 `y[i]` are filtered out if  `ismissing(x[i])||ismissing(y[i])`.
 """
 function handlepairwise!(x::RoMVector{T}, y::RoMVector{U},
-    tx::AbstractVector{T}, ty::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
+    scratchx::AbstractVector{T}, scratchy::AbstractVector{U}) where {T,U}
 
     j = 0
 
     @inbounds for i in eachindex(x)
         if !(ismissing(x[i]) || ismissing(y[i]))
             j += 1
-            tx[j] = x[i]
-            ty[j] = y[i]
+            scratchx[j] = x[i]
+            scratchy[j] = y[i]
         end
     end
 
-    return view(tx, 1:j), view(ty, 1:j)
+    return view(scratchx, 1:j), view(scratchy, 1:j)
 end
 
 """