Let's say, you have a Bash alias like: alias rxvt='urxvt' which works fine. However: alias rxvt='urxvt -fg '#111111' -bg '#111111'' won't work, and neither will: alias rxvt='urxvt -fg \'#111111\' -bg \'#111111\'' So how do you end up matching up opening and closing quotes inside a string once you have escaped quotes? alias rxvt='urxvt -fg'\''#111111'\'' -bg '\''#111111'\'' seems ungainly although