def _escape_markdown_literals(string):
    """Escape any markdown literals in ``string`` by prepending with \\

    :type string: str
    :rtype: str
    """
    literals = list("\\`*_{}[]()<>#+-.!:|")
    escape = lambda c: '\\' + c if c in literals else c
    return "".join(map(escape, string))
Escape any markdown literals in ``string`` by prepending with \\

    :type string: str
    :rtype: str