my %hash = ( foo => 1, bar => quux($blorf), ); my $result = frobnitz(\%hash); # ok my $result = frobnitz( %hash); # also ok # --- my $hashref = ( foo => 1, bar => quux($blorf), ); my $result = frobnitz( $hashref); # ok # --- frobnitz( { foo => 1, bar => scalar bar($quux) } ); # not ok