dave_140390@hotmail.com writes:

> Now, if I grep this file for [a-z], I get:
> $ grep [a-z] test
> small line
> LARGE LINE
>
> Now, _that_ is unexpected!


try

echo grep [a-z] test

to see what grep REALLY gets as input.
(Remember, the shell parses meta-characters before grep seel them).