yes, its explained in the formatting help that a / is needed to symbolise where that symbol is not used as a formatting symbol.

Thanks for the link, my confusion (and mistake) sits in my memory which connected the word meanings to simpler concepts to make them easier to know and store. In fact - I was so sure that the confusion was with the situation and not with me; that I automatically asked before challenging my existing knowledge. I mean - its just framing right? :P