docs: def _escape_markdown_literals(string):
      """Escape any markdown literals in ``string`` by prepending with \\
  
      :type string: str
      :rtype: str
      """
      literals = list("\\`*_{}[]()<>#+-.!:|")
      escape = lambda c: '\\' + c if c in literals else c
      return "".join(map(escape, string))