var elem = this; elem.addEventListener('overflow', function() { //alert('The text of this element will eventually be wrapped!'); // matches any "mangled" HTML tag var exp = /< \/*[​='_\s\w]+>/g; //alert('else' + elem.innerHTML); var txt = elem.innerHTML; // the bound element's innerHTML var chars = txt.split(''); var newTxt = chars.join('​'); newTxt = newTxt.replace(exp, reconstructTag); elem.innerHTML = newTxt ; },false); function reconstructTag(_tag) { return _tag.replace(/​/g,''); }