$bits{'one'}=@test; #### my @test = ( qw / bing bong bang / ); print '['.$test[2].'] ['.$test[1].'] ['.$test[0]."]\n"; $bits{'one'}= \@test; my @new = @{$bits{'one'}}; print '['.$new[2].'] ['.$new[1].'] ['.$new[0]."]\n"; OUTPUT: [bang] [bong] [bing] [bang] [bong] [bing]