Says nop:

Larry writes ...

That's not Larry; it's Tom. And you're right about what it means. But it was never true; some POD translators do that, and some don't. Tom is engaging in wishful thinking here, as he often does.

You didn't say which translator you were using; I guess it was the very stinky pod2html. There might be a better version in Russ Allbery's podlators package. If not, he's the person to ask about it.