I'd like to point out though, that the goal is not to have bash-compatibility. As you point out, bash does some insane things and that is exactly what I want to avoid with xonsh. I should be able to give xonsh to a programming newbie and they should not experience any gotchas once they know the language.
I have been pretty careful to say BASHwards-compatibility in the docs and elsewhere, for exactly the reasons you mention. The goal isn't to be bash with some python-isms, but to be python with the useful parts of the shell syntax. Like any good technology, it should interface as well as it can (ie when not insane to do so) with the previous technologies. For example, read in the bashrc or take advantage of the bash completion functionality. That is what BASHwards was meant to mean. @ngoldbaum seems to have submitted the link here, under 'bash-compatibility.' Oh well. This probably is proof enough that I should change the 'BASHwards' language elsewhere. Thanks for the tip.
Keep doing great things with fish!