if (length ($string) > 15) {
  my $last;
    if ($string =~ /\s(\S{1,12})$/) {
    $last = $1; # a suitable end word
  }

   $starting_length = 12 - length($last);

  if ($string =~ /(.{0,$starting_length})\s/) { # greedy pattern match, matches multiple words
    $string = "$1...$last";
  }
  else {
    $string = substr($string,0,12) . "..."; 
  } 
}