https://github.com/oragono/oragono/blob/d37af694af3c9440c3b44725325f97f3c5ddbd1d/irc/client_lookup_set.go#L455 Because there are no parentheses surrounding the inner expression, the `^` and the `$` get "stuck" to the initial and final sub-expressions.