Thats a very interesting modification the BB applies. Does the same happen if you do:

110dpi sin(x^2)

i.e. some other dpi resolution.

Seems to me that its picking up on the number and possibly treating this as a character code or something. Nevertheless, I have been wondering if it would be more logicial for us to change the dpi setting, so you can type

\dpi{110} sin(x^2}

I'll add this over the next few days..