$ perl -e' my @files = ( "egg_nogg.mp3\n", "egg_nogg\n", "stupid file.ogg.shn.flac.mp3\n", "stupid fileloggashnoflacamp3\n" ); foreach my $tmp_name ( @files ) { print "\$tmp_name = $tmp_name\t=>"; # remove common suffixes chomp $tmp_name; for my $suffix ( ".mp3", ".flac", ".shn", ".ogg" ) { $tmp_name =~ s/$suffix$//; } print "\t$tmp_name\n"; } ' $tmp_name = egg_nogg.mp3 => egg_ $tmp_name = egg_nogg => egg_ $tmp_name = stupid file.ogg.shn.flac.mp3 => stupid file $tmp_name = stupid fileloggashnoflacamp3 => stupid file