russ@MyLinuxBox:~$ perl -w my %_ = (a => 1, b => 2); Can't use global %_ in "my" at - line 1, near "my %_" #### sub mySub{ my %Defaults = (Name => 'Russ', Job => 'Programmer', Language =? 'Perl'); my %_ = (%Defaults, @_); # Warning, this does not compile! ### #(Now use %_ as my argument list) ### print "The name is: $_{Name}\n"; }