I completely agree, I did think of /[^\w.]/ but there are many ways to skin this cat and I was showing one of the uglier methods I had just discovered while poking about in the murkier corners.

As I said in my update, in future I'll be clear when a post isn't intended as a solution to the problem at hand. It was meant as an interesting (to me at least) digression and I apologize for giving the impression it was a serious suggestion.