DB<1> ($blue, $red) = qw / b r/; DB<2> say ${$_} for qw /blue red/; b r #### $ perl -Mstrict -E 'our ($blue, $red) = qw / b r/; say ${$_} for qw /blue red/;' Can't use string ("blue") as a SCALAR ref while "strict refs" in use at -e line 1. #### DB<3> say ${ "bl" . "ue"}; b