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<?php $array = ['they "did" it', "some", "other", "elements"]; var_export( [ 'they "did" it' => stripos(json_encode($array), 'they "did" it') !== false, // should be true but isn't 'they \"did\" it' => stripos(json_encode($array), 'they \"did\" it') !== false // should be false but isn't ] );
Output for 5.6.40, 7.3.0 - 7.3.33, 7.4.0 - 7.4.33, 8.0.0 - 8.0.30, 8.1.0 - 8.1.33, 8.2.0 - 8.2.29, 8.3.0 - 8.3.25, 8.4.1 - 8.4.12
array ( 'they "did" it' => false, 'they \\"did\\" it' => true, )
preferences:
147.99 ms | 407 KiB | 5 Q