my %values = ( name => 'chromatic', rank => 'saint', style => 'obnoxious', ); my %rev_values = do_something(%values); foreach my $key (keys %rev_values) { print "$key => $rev_values{$key}\n"; } sub do_something { my %values = @_; foreach my $key (keys %values) { print "$key => $values{$key}\n"; $values{$key} = reverse $values{$key}; } return %values; }