$ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; print join(",",split "\\|",$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; print join(",",split /\|/,$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; print join(",",split m/\|/,$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; print join(",",split qr/\|/,$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; $b=qr/\|/; print join(",",split $b,$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; sub b{return qr/\|/}; print join(",",split b(),$a),$/' m,b,a $ perl -e '$a="m|b|a"; print join(",",split "[|]",$a),$/' m,b,a