$ which perl /usr/bin/perl $ perl -ne "push @a,$_; /foo/ and exit 1; shift @a if $#a>3; END{$?==1 and print @a }" file Bareword found where operator expected at -e line 1, near "0a" (Missing operator before a?) syntax error at -e line 1, near "0a" Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.