diff --git a/plugins/available/base.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/base.plugin.bash
index e07401bc..e8533951 100644
--- a/plugins/available/base.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/base.plugin.bash
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'miscellaneous tools'
 
-ips ()
+function ips ()
 {
     about 'display all ip addresses for this host'
     group 'base'
     ifconfig | grep "inet " | awk '{ print $2 }'
 }
 
-down4me ()
+function down4me ()
 {
     about 'checks whether a website is down for you, or everybody'
     param '1: website url'
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ down4me ()
     curl -s "http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/$1" | sed '/just you/!d;s/<[^>]*>//g'
 }
 
-myip ()
+function myip ()
 {
     about 'displays your ip address, as seen by the Internet'
     group 'base'
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ myip ()
 }
 
 
-pickfrom ()
+function pickfrom ()
 {
     about 'picks random line from file'
     param '1: filename'
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ pickfrom ()
     head -n $n $file | tail -1
 }
 
-pass ()
+function pass ()
 {
     about 'generates random password from dictionary words'
     param 'optional integer length'
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ pass ()
     echo "Without (use this as the pass): $(echo $pass | tr -d ' ')"
 }
 
-pmdown ()
+function pmdown ()
 {
     about 'preview markdown file in a browser'
     param '1: markdown file'
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ pmdown ()
     fi
 }
 
-mkcd ()
+function mkcd ()
 {
     about 'make a directory and cd into it'
     param 'path to create'
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ mkcd ()
     cd "$*"
 }
 
-lsgrep ()
+function lsgrep ()
 {
     about 'search through directory contents with grep'
     group 'base'
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ lsgrep ()
 }
 
 
-pman ()
+function pman ()
 {
     about 'view man documentation in Preview'
     param '1: man page to view'
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ pman ()
 }
 
 
-pcurl ()
+function pcurl ()
 {
     about 'download file and Preview it'
     param '1: download URL'
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ pcurl ()
     curl "${1}" | open -f -a $PREVIEW
 }
 
-pri ()
+function pri ()
 {
     about 'display information about Ruby classes, modules, or methods, in Preview'
     param '1: Ruby method, module, or class'
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@ pri ()
     ri -T "${1}" | open -f -a $PREVIEW
 }
 
-quiet ()
+function quiet ()
 {
     about 'what *does* this do?'
     group 'base'
 	$* &> /dev/null &
 }
 
-banish-cookies ()
+function banish-cookies ()
 {
     about 'redirect .adobe and .macromedia files to /dev/null'
     group 'base'
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ banish-cookies ()
 	ln -s /dev/null ~/.macromedia
 }
 
-usage ()
+function usage ()
 {
     about 'disk usage per directory, in Mac OS X and Linux'
     param '1: directory name'
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ usage ()
 
 if [ ! -e $BASH_IT/plugins/enabled/todo.plugin.bash ]; then
 # if user has installed todo plugin, skip this...
-    t ()
+    function t ()
     {
         about 'one thing todo'
         param 'if not set, display todo item'
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ if [ ! -e $BASH_IT/plugins/enabled/todo.plugin.bash ]; then
     }
 fi
 
-command_exists ()
+function command_exists ()
 {
     about 'checks for existence of a command'
     param '1: command to check'
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ command_exists ()
 }
 
 # useful for administrators and configs
-buf ()
+function buf ()
 {
     about 'back up file with timestamp'
     param 'filename'