#! perl -slw use strict; sub genRegex { my $query = shift; $query =~ tr[A-Za-z0-9 ][a-za-z0-9 ]; my @words = split ' ', $query; my $regex = join '\W+'.$/, map{ my $s=''; $s = "(?:$_$s)?" for reverse split ''; chop $s; "\\b$s\\b" } @words; return qr[$regex]xi; } my $regex; while( my $line = ) { chomp $line; $regex = genRegex( $1 ) and print'' and next if $line =~ m[search for (.*) should match...]; print +($line =~ $regex ? 'Matched ' : 'Failed ' ), $line; } __DATA__ search for Aetna Insurance Company should match... Aetna Insurance Company Aetna Ins. Co. Aetna Insurance Co. Aetna Ins. Company Aetna Ins Company aetna insurance co Aetna Ins Co Atna Insurance Company Aetna Ins. Ca. Aetna Insurance Go. Aetna Ins. Compary search for Sam Jones should match... Sam Jones Sam J. Jones Sam J Jones S. Jones Samuel Janes Sam L Jones Sam J.J. Jones Sam J Jones B. Jones Manuel Jones