sub text_to_shell_lit(_) {
   return $_[0] if $_[0] =~ /^[a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+\z/;
   my $s = $_[0];
   $s =~ s/'/'\\''/g;
   return "'$s'";
}

my $very_remote_cmd = join ' ', map text_to_shell_lit,
  argcount => ( 'a b c' );

my $remote_cmd = join ' ', map text_to_shell_lit,
  ssh => ( '--', $very_remote_target, $very_remote_cmd );

backticks(ssh => ( '--', $remote_target, $remote_cmd ));