According to this, it does not happen when you use variables (unless you explicitly ask for it), but it does happen on the output of the command substitution:

According to this, it does not happen when you use variables (unless you explicitly ask for it), but it does happen on the output of the command substitution: > A command enclosed in parentheses preceded by a dollar sign, like `$(...)', or quoted with grave accents, like ``...`', is replaced with its standard output, with any trailing newlines deleted. If the substitution is not enclosed in double quotes, the output is broken into words using the IFS parameter. https://www.csse.uwa.edu.au/programming/linux/zsh-doc/zsh_15.html https://www.csse.uwa.edu.au/programming/linux/zsh-doc/zsh_15...