use Test::More qw' tests 2 '; is( "\LA\uA", "??", '\LA\uA' ); is( "\L\uAA", "??", '\L\uAA' ); __END__ 1..2 not ok 1 - \LA\uA # Failed test '\LA\uA' # at crap line 2. # got: 'aa' # expected: '??' not ok 2 - \L\uAA # Failed test '\L\uAA' # at crap line 3. # got: 'Aa' # expected: '??' # Looks like you failed 2 tests of 2.