my $var = 'tad?pole';
my @list = ($var);
print("@list" =~ /\b$var\b/ ? 1 : 0, "\n");

##</code><code>##

my $var = 'frog!';
my @list = ($var);
print("@list" =~ /\b$var\b/ ? 1 : 0, "\n");

##</code><code>##

my $var = 'turtle';
my @list = ("jumping $var");
print("@list" =~ /\b$var\b/ ? 1 : 0, "\n");

##</code><code>##

my $sep = "\x01";
my @list = ('jumping turtle', 'frog!', 'tad?pole');

for my $var (@list) {
   if (join($sep, '', @list, '') =~ /\Q$sep$var$sep\E/) {
      print "Found $var\n"
   } else {
      print "Didn't find $var\n"
   }
}

##</code><code>##

my $sep = "\x01";
my @list = ('jumping turtle', 'frog!', 'tad?pole');

for my $var (@list) {
   if (index(join($sep, '', @list, ''), "$sep$var$sep") >= 0) {
      print "Found $var\n"
   } else {
      print "Didn't find $var\n"
   }
}