tcsh: Handle spaces in arguments when passing on to another command

I wrote a script that needs to call a command and pass on arguments. My script has its own parameters but some need to be passed through. This fails when arguments to my script have spaces in them. Here is the script, reduced to the passing on of arguments: #!/bin/tcsh set passthrough = "" checkparams: if ( $# > 0 ) then # Add the argument to passthrough, ensuring spaces are preserved set passthrough = "$passthrough '${1:q}'" # Show what has been added in one go echo "Added passthrough: '${1:q}'" shift goto checkparams endif # Using echo here instead of the real command echo $passthrough Calling this script shows the problem: user@host:/home/user/bin -> ./test_preserve_passthrough a "b b" c Added passthrough: 'a' Added passthrough: 'b b' Added passthrough: 'c' 'a' 'b b' 'c' As you can see, the 4 spaces between the 'b's disappear. In fact, when I pass a single argument with spaces in it, echo receives not one argument but many as the single string will be broken up by its spaces " ". I tried many ways of quoting (single, double, {$x:q}) and combinations but still cannot preserve the spaces in any way. When an argument is given to my script like a (TAB-completed) filename this\ \ is\ a\ file\ with\ spaces\ in\ its\ name the backslashes need to be removed, and in the above example with a "b b" c three arguments need to be passed on unchanged: a and b b and c.