Not neovim tested (I'm an nvi user), but: [editeditedit]; # <--- on an empty line <command-mode on your crafted line> 0"ay$ ;# go to start of line, in a buffe

Not neovim tested (I'm an nvi user), but: [editeditedit]; # <--- on an empty line <command-mode on your crafted line> 0"ay$ ;# go to start of line, in a buffer named "a" yank to EOL @a ;# <-- execute the buffer "a" Example line: :r!ls -ld <splat>^M ^-- enter ed mode, read contents of command "ls -ld <splat>"[enter] Is that close (or adaptable?) to what you're thinking of? EDIT: Test in vim (it works) and change the "[shift 8]" to <splat> (HN html renderer was swallowing the "[shift 8]")