FOO=bar cat < <(echo $FOO:1; echo $FOO:2) echo after: --${FOO}-- unset FOO FOO=global FOO=bar cat < <(echo $FOO:1; echo $FOO:2) echo after: --${FOO}-- unset FOO FOO=bar read x < <(echo -n $FOO:1; echo $FOO:2) echo after: --${FOO}-- echo x = $x