diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 55ea7cf..98473c6 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -128,9 +128,9 @@ escape_underscores
   Defaults to ``True``.
 
 escape_misc
-  If set to ``False``, do not escape miscellaneous punctuation characters
+  If set to ``True``, escape miscellaneous punctuation characters
   that sometimes have Markdown significance in text.
-  Defaults to ``True``.
+  Defaults to ``False``.
 
 keep_inline_images_in
   Images are converted to their alt-text when the images are located inside
diff --git a/markdownify/__init__.py b/markdownify/__init__.py
index 9951d5b..5c90129 100644
--- a/markdownify/__init__.py
+++ b/markdownify/__init__.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class DefaultOptions:
         default_title = False
         escape_asterisks = True
         escape_underscores = True
-        escape_misc = True
+        escape_misc = False
         heading_style = UNDERLINED
         keep_inline_images_in = []
         newline_style = SPACES
diff --git a/tests/test_escaping.py b/tests/test_escaping.py
index 6b21f68..878760a 100644
--- a/tests/test_escaping.py
+++ b/tests/test_escaping.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def test_underscore():
 
 
 def test_xml_entities():
-    assert md('&') == r'\&'
+    assert md('&', escape_misc=True) == r'\&'
 
 
 def test_named_entities():
@@ -27,49 +27,49 @@ def test_hexadecimal_entities():
 
 
 def test_single_escaping_entities():
-    assert md('&') == r'\&'
+    assert md('&', escape_misc=True) == r'\&'
 
 
 def test_misc():
     # ignore the bs4 warning that "1.2" or "*" looks like a filename
     warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=MarkupResemblesLocatorWarning)
 
-    assert md('\\*') == r'\\\*'
-    assert md('&lt;foo>') == r'\<foo\>'
-    assert md('# foo') == r'\# foo'
-    assert md('#5') == r'#5'
-    assert md('5#') == '5#'
-    assert md('####### foo') == r'####### foo'
-    assert md('> foo') == r'\> foo'
-    assert md('~~foo~~') == r'\~\~foo\~\~'
-    assert md('foo\n===\n') == 'foo\n\\=\\=\\=\n'
-    assert md('---\n') == '\\---\n'
-    assert md('- test') == r'\- test'
-    assert md('x - y') == r'x \- y'
-    assert md('test-case') == 'test-case'
-    assert md('x-') == 'x-'
-    assert md('-y') == '-y'
-    assert md('+ x\n+ y\n') == '\\+ x\n\\+ y\n'
-    assert md('`x`') == r'\`x\`'
-    assert md('[text](link)') == r'\[text](link)'
-    assert md('1. x') == r'1\. x'
-    # assert md('1<span>.</span> x') == r'1\. x'
-    assert md('<span>1.</span> x') == r'1\. x'
-    assert md(' 1. x') == r' 1\. x'
-    assert md('123456789. x') == r'123456789\. x'
-    assert md('1234567890. x') == r'1234567890. x'
-    assert md('A1. x') == r'A1. x'
-    assert md('1.2') == r'1.2'
-    assert md('not a number. x') == r'not a number. x'
-    assert md('1) x') == r'1\) x'
-    # assert md('1<span>)</span> x') == r'1\) x'
-    assert md('<span>1)</span> x') == r'1\) x'
-    assert md(' 1) x') == r' 1\) x'
-    assert md('123456789) x') == r'123456789\) x'
-    assert md('1234567890) x') == r'1234567890) x'
-    assert md('(1) x') == r'(1) x'
-    assert md('A1) x') == r'A1) x'
-    assert md('1)x') == r'1)x'
-    assert md('not a number) x') == r'not a number) x'
-    assert md('|not table|') == r'\|not table\|'
+    assert md('\\*', escape_misc=True) == r'\\\*'
+    assert md('&lt;foo>', escape_misc=True) == r'\<foo\>'
+    assert md('# foo', escape_misc=True) == r'\# foo'
+    assert md('#5', escape_misc=True) == r'#5'
+    assert md('5#', escape_misc=True) == '5#'
+    assert md('####### foo', escape_misc=True) == r'####### foo'
+    assert md('> foo', escape_misc=True) == r'\> foo'
+    assert md('~~foo~~', escape_misc=True) == r'\~\~foo\~\~'
+    assert md('foo\n===\n', escape_misc=True) == 'foo\n\\=\\=\\=\n'
+    assert md('---\n', escape_misc=True) == '\\---\n'
+    assert md('- test', escape_misc=True) == r'\- test'
+    assert md('x - y', escape_misc=True) == r'x \- y'
+    assert md('test-case', escape_misc=True) == 'test-case'
+    assert md('x-', escape_misc=True) == 'x-'
+    assert md('-y', escape_misc=True) == '-y'
+    assert md('+ x\n+ y\n', escape_misc=True) == '\\+ x\n\\+ y\n'
+    assert md('`x`', escape_misc=True) == r'\`x\`'
+    assert md('[text](link)', escape_misc=True) == r'\[text](link)'
+    assert md('1. x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\. x'
+    # assert md('1<span>.</span> x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\. x'
+    assert md('<span>1.</span> x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\. x'
+    assert md(' 1. x', escape_misc=True) == r' 1\. x'
+    assert md('123456789. x', escape_misc=True) == r'123456789\. x'
+    assert md('1234567890. x', escape_misc=True) == r'1234567890. x'
+    assert md('A1. x', escape_misc=True) == r'A1. x'
+    assert md('1.2', escape_misc=True) == r'1.2'
+    assert md('not a number. x', escape_misc=True) == r'not a number. x'
+    assert md('1) x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\) x'
+    # assert md('1<span>)</span> x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\) x'
+    assert md('<span>1)</span> x', escape_misc=True) == r'1\) x'
+    assert md(' 1) x', escape_misc=True) == r' 1\) x'
+    assert md('123456789) x', escape_misc=True) == r'123456789\) x'
+    assert md('1234567890) x', escape_misc=True) == r'1234567890) x'
+    assert md('(1) x', escape_misc=True) == r'(1) x'
+    assert md('A1) x', escape_misc=True) == r'A1) x'
+    assert md('1)x', escape_misc=True) == r'1)x'
+    assert md('not a number) x', escape_misc=True) == r'not a number) x'
+    assert md('|not table|', escape_misc=True) == r'\|not table\|'
     assert md(r'\ &lt;foo> &amp;amp; | ` `', escape_misc=False) == r'\ <foo> &amp; | ` `'