sub hash { qw(foo bar baz xyzzy) }
sub hashref { return { qw(foo bar baz xyzzy) } }

my %dummy = hash;
$dummy = $dummy{foo};
# Afaik, there is no direct syntax to get a single element

# but with hash refs, there is:
$dummy = hashref->{foo}
# equals $dummy = ${ hashref() }{foo}, which is ugly.