#!usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

my $x =  "Mmm...donut, thought... Homer...Yech...peas";
my @matches = $x =~ /(Mmm|Yech)\.\.\.(donut|peas)/g;
print "number of matches is: ".@matches."\n"; 
print "matches are: @matches\n";  

print "\n";
$x =  "MmmABCdonut, thought... HomerABXYechABYpeas";
my @moreMatches = $x =~ /(?:Mmm|Yech)(...)(?:donut|peas)/g;
print "moreMatches number: ".@moreMatches,"\n";
print "@moreMatches\n";

__END__
prints:
number of matches is: 4
matches are: Mmm donut Yech peas

moreMatches number: 2
ABC ABY