Why don't you write down what $string and $_ contain, so we don't have to guess? See I know what I mean. Why don't you?

$s = "hüh-hott"; $t = "hüh";
print "matches: '$&'\n"     if $s =~ /$t/;
print "matches too: '$&'\n" if $s =~ /\b$t\b/;
__END__
matches: 'hüh'
matches too: 'hüh'
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