> I do not like the R language at all myself, but to be fair there are reasons it is widely used in higher ed.

In the same boat... from a PL perspective, yikes (especially the macro mechanism that somehow never seemed to be planned, but somehow exists). As a working statistician? It really does get work done quickly.

To pass inputs with complex unevaluated syntax, I've seen...

– ad-hoc string parsing (lavaan etc.)

– formulas (which somehow the tidyverse doesn't use),

– base R syntax manipulation by round-tripping between as.list and as.call;

– and whatever wheel reinvention with bizarre semantics that the tidyverse uses.

You can learn about the theory that underlies tidyeval at https://adv-r.hadley.nz/quasiquotation.html. I'd claim that it's neither reinventing the wheel (because it solves problems that the base equivalents do not) nor bizarre (because it is backed by a deep, well-founded theory).