sub shell_escape {
    my ( $string ) = @_;

    $string =~ s/\\/\\\\/g;
    $string =~ s/\"/\\\"/g;
    $string =~ s/\$/\\\$/g;
    $string =~ s/\`/\\\`/g;

    return $string;
}

##</code><code>##

my $suspect = shift;
my $quoted_suspect = shell_escape( $suspect );
system( qq{echo "$quoted_suspect"} );