You'd indeed be correct about "@word2=$1" overwritting the first position of @word2. To whit, at assigns @word2 to the list consisting of the single element $1. As Ineffectual noted, the best way to do what you want here is generaly with a push, push @word2, $1; in this case. (BTW, following that push link will get you the same thing (more or less, depending on what version of perl you've got installed) as "perldoc -f push" from a command prompt. (If you're running ActiveState perl for win32, there's also a perlfunc.html sitting around that has the same thing in html form.)

If you don't have it yet, BTW, I highly recommend "Programming Perl", AKA The Camel Book. Your library /should/ have it.