4GL => 4th generation languages. I've often heard Perl described as a fourth generation language. Of course, I should've looked up the definition first.

Often abbreviated 4GL, fourth-generation languages are programming languages closer to human languages than typical high-level programming languages. Most 4GLs are used to access databases. For example, a typical 4GL command is FIND ALL RECORDS WHERE NAME IS "SMITH"

But, the definition can apply to Perl, in that the language is much closer to English than C or Java. For example,

foreach $item (@list_of_stuff)
{
    next if $item eq "Something bad";
    do_stuff($item);
}
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And, from what I've read about Perl6, this will be even more the case. My feeling is that any language that provides the following is a candidate for being a 4th-generation lenguage.

• Abstracts away physical hardware (where possible), like memory management
• Provide higher-order constructs as first-order variables (like hashes)
• Allows for flows that closely map to human thought processes

But, as always, this is just my opinion.