#!/usr/bin/perl -l use strict; use warnings; $_ = "iowq john stepy andy anne alic bert stepy anne bert andy step alic andy"; print "$& => ", s/\b$&\b//g while /\w+/; #### iowq => 1 john => 1 stepy => 2 andy => 3 anne => 2 alic => 2 bert => 2 step => 1