$count = @count = $data =~ m/and/g; and it works ok 

##</code><code>##

$count = () = $data =~ m/and/g;

##</code><code>##

$_ = 'foo and bar and baz went to the sea.';
@pairs = /(and)(?=\W*(\w+))/g;
print join "#", @pairs;

##</code><code>##

$data = 'foo and bar and baz went to the sea.';
@pairs = $data =~ /(and)(?=\W*(\w+))/g;
print "@pairs";

##</code><code>##

@pairs = /(and)(?=\W*(\w+))/g;

##</code><code>##

@pairs = $data =~ /(and)(?=\W*(\w+))/g;