Slightly off-topic, but this did came up...

Can someone manage to type \\ in a comment?

• In what context? I type $$\left\\{\mbox{a set}\right\\}$$ and get $$\left\\{\mbox{a set}\right\\}$$ so apparently not. But $$\left\{\mbox{a set}\right\}$$ gives $$\left\{\mbox{a set}\right\}$$ On the other hand, $\left(\begin{array}{cc}1&0\\0&1\end{array}\right)$ gives $\left(\begin{array}{cc}1&0\\0&1\end{array}\right)$. – Arturo Magidin Mar 14 '11 at 3:09
• @Arturo: I mean I wanted to type backtick-backslash-backslash-backtick, so as to have a "code-style" rendition of a double-backslash in the middle of a suggestion about how to type $\TeX$. I tried, for exampme, to type backtick-backslash-backslash-backslash-backslash-backtick and a few other variations, but I did manage to get past escaping. – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Mar 14 '11 at 3:12
• Try putting a space after the second backslash: \\ ; this was backtick-double backslash-space-backtick. But it does produce the unwanted space. So there is some rendering problem in the comments. – Arturo Magidin Mar 14 '11 at 3:13
• Ahh. That works. Thanks! – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Mar 14 '11 at 3:19

Yes, we can! Until recently, Arturo's advice to type \\  was the only decent workaround, but a few weeks ago, double backticks have been enabled in comments. Thus, in a comment you can type \\ to obtain \\. For more details have a look here: How do I mark inline code?
• Hendrik: On a related note: Do you know how I escape a backtick in a comment? Suppose I want a code block containing exactly one backtick. How do I achieve that? The obvious modifications of your code don't seem to work:   ,    – t.b. Jul 5 '11 at 22:41
• @Theo: (I see they already confused you - you could have used @Hendrik without it being stripped. Why? There are more than 2 people involved here.) As for the backtick, you've got to escape it with a backslash: \ gives . (This is the reason why you need double backticks if your inline code ends with a backslash!) – Hendrik Vogt Jul 6 '11 at 6:14
• Interesting: Why doesn't this work when I surround \ with blanks (that's what I tried): double backtick blank backslash backtick blank double backticks gives    - same with single backtick instead of the doubles:    but with further erractic behavior. Thanks for the notifications update, I think I just left the @ out because I didn't see the need as it was your answer. I know I'm doing that inconsistently - though I shouldn't have when writing to the ping-master... :) – t.b. Jul 6 '11 at 6:41
• @Theo: In comments, you mustn't start or end your inline code with spaces, see the comments here. (You got me laughing at the end of your last comment :-)`) – Hendrik Vogt Jul 6 '11 at 6:41