all_symbols_escapableExcept inside a code block or inline code, any punctuation or space character preceded by a backslash will be treated literally, even if it would normally indicate formatting. Thus, for example, if one writes
*\*hello\**one will get
<em>*hello*</em>instead of
<strong>hello</strong>This rule is easier to remember than original Markdown’s rule, which allows only the following characters to be backslash-escaped:
\`*_{}[]()>#+-.!(However, if the markdown_strict format is used, the
original Markdown rule will be used.)
A backslash-escaped space is parsed as a nonbreaking space. In TeX
output, it will appear as ~. In HTML and XML output, it
will appear as a literal unicode nonbreaking space character (note that
it will thus actually look “invisible” in the generated HTML source; you
can still use the --ascii command-line option to make it
appear as an explicit entity).
A backslash-escaped newline (i.e. a backslash occurring at the end of
a line) is parsed as a hard line break. It will appear in TeX output as
\\ and in HTML as <br />. This is a nice
alternative to Markdown’s “invisible” way of indicating hard line breaks
using two trailing spaces on a line.
Backslash escapes do not work in verbatim contexts.