* One thing that may work:
= ^H=
** In emacs that would be: = Cqh=
** In vi that would be = Cvh=
*** i.e. you enter a "Cntrl-h"--the literal control character ^H--which is literally: "BackSpace"
--this may not work in this case; but, it works in a lot of strange cases.
* Could also make a variable: export EQUALS="="; etc.