diff --git a/home/bashrc b/home/bashrc
index d31019f..327f8cb 100644
--- a/home/bashrc
+++ b/home/bashrc
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ _temporary_scope_() {
 # this doesn't work for all scripts at the moment, but
 ADDPATH "$HOME/sh"
 
-(
-    # combine everything matching "YES_BASH" in ~/sh/ into ~/.sh-bash.
-    # unlike zsh, we do not check the sha1sum of the output.
-    cd ~/sh \
-     && printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env false' '[ -n "$preload" ] || exit 1' '' \
-      | cat - $(grep -lF YES_BASH -- $(find ~/sh/ -maxdepth 1 -type f '!' -name '*.bak')) \
-      > ~/.sh-bash
-)
+# combine everything matching "YES_BASH" in ~/sh/ into ~/.sh-bash.
+# unlike zsh, we do not check the sha1sum of the output.
+ (: \
+ && cd ~/sh \
+ && printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env false' '[ -n "$preload" ] || exit 1' '' \
+  | cat - > ~/.sh-bash \
+    $(grep -lF YES_BASH -- $(find ~/sh/ -maxdepth 1 -type f '!' -name '*.bak')) \
+ ;)
 
 dummy() { :; } ### @- return 0, ignoring arguments.
 preload=dummy
diff --git a/home/zshrc b/home/zshrc
index 679a74d..74ea21c 100644
--- a/home/zshrc
+++ b/home/zshrc
@@ -58,22 +58,23 @@ autoload edit-command-line
 autoload history-search-end
 zmodload zsh/mathfunc
 
-function {
-    local a= b=
-
-    # combine everything matching "YES_ZSH" in ~/sh/ into ~/.sh,
-    # but only recompile the output if the sha1sum has changed.
-    [ -s ~/.sh.sha1 ] && read -r b _ < ~/.sh.sha1
-    (   cd ~/sh \
+# combine everything matching "YES_ZSH" in ~/sh/ into ~/.sh,
+# but only recompile the output if the sha1sum has changed.
+function
+ {: \
+ && local a= b= \
+ && { [ ! -s ~/.sh.sha1 ] || read -r b _ < ~/.sh.sha1 ;} \
+ &&  (: \
+     && cd ~/sh \
      && print -l '#!/usr/bin/env false' '[ -n "$preload" ] || exit 1' '' \
       | cat - $(grep -lF YES_ZSH -- *~*.bak(.)) \
       | tee ~/.sh \
-    ) | sha1sum - \
-      | tee ~/.sh.sha1 \
-      | read -r a _
-
-    [ "$a" = "$b" ] && touch ~/.sh.zwc || zrecompile -p ~/.sh
-}
+     ;) \
+  | sha1sum - \
+  | tee ~/.sh.sha1 \
+  | read -r a _ \
+ && { [ "$a" = "$b" ] && touch ~/.sh.zwc || zrecompile -p ~/.sh ;} \
+ ;}
 
 dummy() : ### @- return 0, ignoring arguments.
 preload=dummy