I'll side with merlyn here. Do not use /^\.\.?$/, but rather /^\.\.?\z/, and if you need to know the difference, re-read the regex docs on how the $ and \z anchors differ.

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Jeff[japhy]Pinyan: Perl, regex, and perl hacker.
s++=END;++y(;-P)}y js++=;shajsj<++y(p-q)}?print:??;