In fact,
tcsh binds ^W to a different action (
kill-region) than it does
^U (
kill-whole-line). The binding is
stolen from (
X)
Emacs. To use it, first set the "
mark" somewhere in the line of text (hit
C-space (^space) or
C-@ (^@)), then go somewhere else and
kill the
region with C-w. Now you can use "
yank", bound to
C-y (^Y) to
insert what you deleted.
When you start editing a line, mark is at the beginning of the line, which explains the behaviour Magenta complains about.