diff --git a/rc/base/d.kak b/rc/base/d.kak
index 0b732eb5..feb0e017 100644
--- a/rc/base/d.kak
+++ b/rc/base/d.kak
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=d %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${attributes}:${types}:${values}:${decorators}:${properties}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords} ${attributes} ${types} ${values} ${decorators} ${properties}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/base/go.kak b/rc/base/go.kak
index 61308f7b..d17b09ae 100644
--- a/rc/base/go.kak
+++ b/rc/base/go.kak
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=go %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${attributes}:${types}:${values}:${functions}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words '${keywords} ${attributes} ${types} ${values} ${functions}'
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/base/perl.kak b/rc/base/perl.kak
index 34b88434..d483b886 100644
--- a/rc/base/perl.kak
+++ b/rc/base/perl.kak
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=perl %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${attributes}:${values}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords} ${attributes} ${values}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/base/ruby.kak b/rc/base/ruby.kak
index b595f672..ae753ae1 100644
--- a/rc/base/ruby.kak
+++ b/rc/base/ruby.kak
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=ruby %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${attributes}:${values}:${meta}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords} ${attributes} ${values} ${meta}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/base/spell.kak b/rc/base/spell.kak
index 19fd5f7b..2fe0ddaa 100644
--- a/rc/base/spell.kak
+++ b/rc/base/spell.kak
@@ -42,14 +42,14 @@ Formats of language supported:
                             fi
                             word=$(printf %s\\n "$line" | cut -d ' ' -f 2)
                             len=$(printf %s "$word" | wc -c)
-                            regions="$regions:$line_num.$pos+${len}|Error"
+                            regions="$regions $line_num.$pos+${len}|Error"
                             ;;
                         '') line_num=$((line_num + 1));;
                         \*) ;;
                         *) printf 'echo -markup %%{{Error}%s}\n' "${line}" | kak -p "${kak_session}";;
                     esac
                 done
-                printf 'set-option "buffer=%s" spell_regions %%{%s}' "${kak_bufname}" "${regions}" \
+                printf 'set-option "buffer=%s" spell_regions %s' "${kak_bufname}" "${regions}" \
                     | kak -p "${kak_session}"
             }
             rm -rf $(dirname "$kak_opt_spell_tmp_file")
@@ -62,15 +62,16 @@ define-command spell-next %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
     anchor_col="${kak_selection_desc%%,*}"
     anchor_col="${anchor_col##*.}"
 
-    start_first="${kak_opt_spell_regions#*:}"
+    start_first="${kak_opt_spell_regions#* }"
     start_first="${start_first%%|*}"
+    start_first="${start_first#'}"
 
     find_next_word_desc() {
         ## XXX: the `spell` command adds sorted selection descriptions to the range
         printf %s\\n "${1}" \
-            | sed -e 's/^[0-9]*://' -e 's/|[^:]*//g' -e 's/,/ /g' \
-            | tr ':' '\n' \
-            | while read -r start end; do
+            | sed -e "s/'//g" -e 's/^[0-9]* //' -e 's/|[^ ]*//g' \
+            | tr ' ' '\n' \
+            | while IFS=, read -r start end; do
                 start_line="${start%.*}"
                 start_col="${start#*.}"
                 end_line="${end%.*}"
diff --git a/rc/base/sql.kak b/rc/base/sql.kak
index 2a1613a0..7338c295 100644
--- a/rc/base/sql.kak
+++ b/rc/base/sql.kak
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=sql %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${operators}:${functions}:${data_types}:${data_types_fn}:NULL'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords} ${operators} ${functions} ${data_types} ${data_types_fn} NULL
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/core/makefile.kak b/rc/core/makefile.kak
index c54735a0..0a4a802f 100644
--- a/rc/core/makefile.kak
+++ b/rc/core/makefile.kak
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=makefile %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "add-highlighter shared/makefile/content regex \b(${keywords})\b 0:keyword"
diff --git a/rc/core/python.kak b/rc/core/python.kak
index de6aa479..9551ba85 100644
--- a/rc/core/python.kak
+++ b/rc/core/python.kak
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=python %{
-        set-option window static_words '${values}:${meta}:${attributes}:${methods}:${exceptions}:${keywords}:${types}:${functions}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${values} ${meta} ${attributes} ${methods} ${exceptions} ${keywords} ${types} ${functions}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/core/sh.kak b/rc/core/sh.kak
index a3289ee8..bd7e2966 100644
--- a/rc/core/sh.kak
+++ b/rc/core/sh.kak
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=sh %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "add-highlighter shared/sh/code regex \b(${keywords})\b 0:keyword"
diff --git a/rc/extra/dockerfile.kak b/rc/extra/dockerfile.kak
index 9c127cfd..0ac746a4 100644
--- a/rc/extra/dockerfile.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/dockerfile.kak
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=dockerfile %{
-        set window static_words 'ONBUILD|${keywords}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set window static_words ONBUILD|${keywords}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/extra/nim.kak b/rc/extra/nim.kak
index cc7bb23d..128cb2d1 100644
--- a/rc/extra/nim.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/nim.kak
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=nim %{
-        set-option window static_words '${keywords}:${types}:${values}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${keywords} ${types} ${values}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "
diff --git a/rc/extra/pony.kak b/rc/extra/pony.kak
index 8a7b34ec..6e1602a5 100644
--- a/rc/extra/pony.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/pony.kak
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
-    static_words="${values}:${meta}:${keywords}:${types_decl}:${capabilities}"
-    static_words="${static_words}::${struct}"
+    static_words="${values} ${meta} ${keywords} ${types_decl} ${capabilities}"
+    static_words="${static_words} ${struct}"
     printf %s\\n "hook global WinSetOption filetype=pony %{
-        set-option window static_words '${static_words}'
-    }" | tr '|' ':'
+        set-option window static_words ${static_words}
+    }" | tr '|' ' '
 
     # Highlight keywords
     printf %s "