Regarding your second point, over here in the UK there is a chain of betting shops known as Ladbrokes, the signs on the front of their shops look like this:

/Ladbrokes/

The first time I saw this I thought "Hmmm, why don't they just write it in italice?". When I was enlightened I realised it was a not-very useful regular expression.

I've heard a few people make similar comments about that sign!