diff --git a/doc/interactive.js b/doc/interactive.js
index 1a2bf5e..15baf17 100644
--- a/doc/interactive.js
+++ b/doc/interactive.js
@@ -49,6 +49,19 @@ jqueryCheck( function()
         {
             hljs.highlightBlock( element, '    ' );
         } );
+
+        // quick-n-dirty sub and super script impl (it is by no means perfect)
+        $( 'var:contains("\\")' ).each( function()
+        {
+            var $this = $( this );
+
+            $this.html(
+                $this.html().replace( /(\\.*)$/, '<div>$1</div>' )
+                .replace( /\\_([^ \\]+)/, '<sub>$1</sub>' )
+                .replace( /\\\^([^ \\]+)/, '<sup>$1</sup>' )
+                .replace( /(<\/su[bp]><su[bp])>/, '$1 class="left">' )
+            );
+        } );
     } );
 } );
 
diff --git a/doc/manual.css b/doc/manual.css
index 188c614..0223b6f 100644
--- a/doc/manual.css
+++ b/doc/manual.css
@@ -43,6 +43,27 @@ var {
   font-family: monospace;
 }
 
+var div {
+  position: relative;
+  display:  inline;
+}
+
+var sub, var sup {
+  font-size: 0.75em;
+}
+
+sup.left {
+  position: absolute;
+  left: 0px;
+  top: -0.75em;
+}
+
+sub.left {
+  position: absolute;
+  left:   0px;
+  bottom: -0.2em;
+}
+
 .float {
   border:  1px solid #babdb6;
   padding: 0px;