# If you'd like to omit non-matching lines from the result; add ';d' to the end of the expression.
sed -E 's/(?<=^|[^_])__((?![\s_])(([^_]|_(?!_))+?)?[^\s_])__(?=[^_]|$)/<i>\1<\i>/gm;t' <<< "-- funciona
__foo bar__
__f o o b a r__
**teste __lorem ipsum__ dolor sit**
__teste **lorem ipsum** dolor sit__
abc__xyz__teste
-- não funcionava na primeira versão
__foo_bar__
__a__
__*__
__foo_*bar__
-- não é para funcionar
__ foo bar__
__foo bar __
_foo__
__ foo __
_foo_
__foo_
__ __
__a____
____a__
_____
-- corner case: aninhado (não tratei pois não sei o que deveria fazer)
__abc__xyz__123__
__abc __xyz__ 123__
"
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for SED, please visit: https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/html_node/The-_0022s_0022-Command.html