I'm using the jq tool to handle some JSON in bash. Just one problem, while using this line: PB_ACL="acl="`echo $IMGREQ | jq -r'.data.acl'` Result: echo $PB_ACL // acl= The expected value jq has to filter out is: "acl":"public-read" But it's not working now. I think it has to to with the dash (-) symbol. How do I escape such incoming string data?