tuxdev_ 1261367532 learn val=$'foo\n'; time for ((i=0;i<1000;++i)) ; do echo "${val#$'\n'}" > /dev/null ; done tuxdev_ 1261368387 forget tuxdev_ 1261368495 learn val=$'foo\n'; { time for ((i=0;i<2000;++i)) ; do echo "${val%$'\n'}" ; done >/dev/null; } 2> >(tr '\n\t' ' ')