How to avoid messes like `"\!\(\*SuperscriptBox[\(m\), \2\)]\)"` when using the uploader

Question

In conjunction with this answer Superscripts and subscripts in graphics causes italics Carl Woll complained about the mess of "\!\(\*SuperscriptBox[\(m\), \2\)]\)". This mess does not appear in my notebook but only when I have posted into Stackexchange using the uploader. Is there a way to avoid this sort of mess? I note that when I copy back into my notebook the mess stays. The suggestion to change to RawInputForm does not seem to help. Am I missing something?

Answer 1

When you use 2D typesetting inside of a string, you will get linear syntax. Here is an animation showing an example:

It is actually rather non-trivial to convert linear syntax into normal expressions. So, in my opinion, it is preferable to avoid using 2D typesetting inside of a string. Instead use Row or possibly StringForm. For example:

Row[{"m ", s^2}]
StringForm["m `1`", s^2]