brian@LinuxBox:~/this is a test
                               ^ cursor position
brian@LinuxBox:~/this is a
                           ^ cursor position after erasing end word
brian@LinuxBox:~/this is a
                           ^ cursor position after using Ctrl+xx

brian@LinuxBox:~/this is a test
                               ^ initial cursor position
brian@LinuxBox:~/replaced is a test
                         ^ cursor position after editing first word
brian@LinuxBox:~/replaced is a test
                         ^         ^ cursor alternates between these two using Ctrl+XX