JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<ul class="items">
<li class="item1"><a href="gosomewhere.html">About My Store</a></li>
<li class="item2"><a href="gosomewhereelse.html">Find Locations</a></li>
</ul>

CSS

.bigwords {
    background-color: yellow   
}

JavaScript

(function($){

	$.fn.highlightText = function () {
		// handler first parameter
		// is the first parameter a regexp?
		var re,
			hClass,
			reStr,
			argType = $.type(arguments[0]),
			defaultTagName = $.fn.highlightText.defaultTagName;

		if ( argType === "regexp" ) {
			// first argument is a regular expression
			re = arguments[0];
		}		
		// is the first parameter an array?
		else if ( argType === "array" ) {
			// first argument is an array, generate
			// regular expression string for later use
			reStr = arguments[0].join("|");
		}		
		// is the first parameter a string?
		else if ( argType === "string" ) {
			// store string in regular expression string
			// for later use
			reStr = arguments[0];
		}		
		// else, return out and do nothing because this
		// argument is required.
		else {
			return;
		}

		// the second parameter is optional, however,
		// it must be a string or boolean value. If it is 
		// a string, it will be used as the highlight class.
		// If it is a boolean value and equal to true, it 
		// will be used as the third parameter and the highlight
		// class will default to "highlight". If it is undefined,
		// the highlight class will default to "highlight" and 
		// the third parameter will default to false, allowing
		// the plugin to match partial matches.
		// ** The exception is if the first parameter is a regular
		// expression, the third parameter will be ignored.
		argType = $.type(arguments[1]);
		if ( argType === "string" ) {
			hClass = arguments[1];
		}
		else if ( argType === "boolean" ) {
			hClass = "highlight";
			if ( reStr ) {
				reStr = "\\b" + reStr + "\\b";
			}
		}
		else {
			hClass = "highlight";
		}

		if ( arguments[2] && reStr ) {
			reStr = reStr = "\\b" + reStr + "\\b";
		} 

		// if re is not defined ( which means either an array or
		// string was passed as the first parameter ) create the
		// regular expression.
		if (!re) {
			re = new RegExp( "(" + reStr + ")", "ig" );
		}

	    // iterate through...