with the presumption that they are filenamesSo I understand. Otherwise there's nothing to do and zsh has nothing to say about the matter.Only true of globbing.
if someone has filenames that mimic de facto options when globbing is done, are they not a victim of their own liberty?They might be a "victim" of file sharing from a different operating system.
True, but then mere anarchy is loosed upon the world and zsh can
hardly be asked to salvage it. I leave a resolution to wiser
people, I'm just sharing my philosophical take on the thing. Me,
I thought that when Windows started allowing spaces in filenames
that was the beginning of the downfall of the West. The laws of
information theory scream against it. But here we are. Dunno,
but it seems to me like that EDITOR setting thing you just cleaned
up -- too much helpfulness when what was needed was a direct and
explicit imperative. zsh should 'officially' fix only that which
is robustly fixable and also zsh's natural responsibility. My two
cents.