> Then, how would you explain this:

it should be self-explanitory.

> term% fn x @{x=y}
> term% whatis x
> fn x {x=y}

creates to functions x and '@' definition {x=y}.

> term% fn 'x @'{x=y}
> term% whatis 'x @'
> fn 'x @' {x=y}

quoting disables any interpretation in rc; this isn't
the bourne shell.  what the parser sees is the following
tokens. 
FN WORD '{' WORD '=' WORD '}'

 in this case 'x' for some x should be interpreted
differently than for shell input.  the *name* of the token
is 'x', not its value.  (such tokens typically have no value.)

it does not matter that the first WORD is
defined as 'x @'.

- erik

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