use strict; use warnings; my @inputs = ( q{A) 1:2}, q{B) -p 1 -t 2 3}, q{C) 1 2}, q{D) 12}, ); my @outputs = map { s{(?=\d)}{args}g; $_ } @inputs; print qq{$_\n} for @outputs; #### A) args1:args2 B) -p args1 -t args2 args3 C) args1 args2 D) args1args2