Perhaps you want sprintf?

#!/usr/bin/env perl

#       $Id: 1199173.pl,v 1.3 2017/09/12 09:55:38 karl Exp karl $
# http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=1199173

use strict;
use warnings;
use feature qw(say);

my $my_nose = sprintf( "%s", nose(q(cuke)) );

say $my_nose;

sub nose {
    shift;
}

__END__
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Regards, Karl