my %CALPHA = ( 'A' => [ 'wanker', 'tweet', 'bonk' ], 'B' => [ 'ping', 'zilch' ], ... ); my %DALPHA; foreach my $k ( keys %CALPHA ) { foreach my $l ( @{$CALPHA{$k}} ) { $DALPHA{$l} = $k; } }