my $bigfoo=quotemeta('aabbaaa$@!#@#$^$#@^bbabaaba'); assert $bigfoo =~ /(a|b)*$foo(a|b)*/; #### my $bigfoo='aabbaaa$@!#@#$^$#@^bbabaaba'; assert $bigfoo =~ /(a|b)*\Q$foo\E(a|b)*/;