Just a side note: When populating an array with words, you can save a lot of typing by using qw//:

my @words = qw( hi       cat     home    country computer
                irc      hat     wow     Berlin  fly
                airplane cow     maps    make    run
                sigh     golf    running hat     television
                games    hangman pearl   cat     dog
                snake    black   white   cabin   trees
                birds    animals );
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See Quote and Quote like Operators.