c:\@Work\Perl>perl -wMstrict -le "print qq{perl version $]}; ;; my @ra = qw(zero one two); my $ar = \@ra; ;; print ${ @ra }[1]; print ${ @$ar }[2]; " perl version 5.008009 one two c:\@Work\Perl>perl -wMstrict -le "print qq{perl version $]}; ;; my @ra = qw(zero one two); my $ar = \@ra; ;; print ${ @ra }[1]; print ${ @$ar }[2]; " perl version 5.010001 Can't use string ("3") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in use at -e line 1.