TY Kind and Wise Monks for these replies. Ken- it's reassuring to know that at least in some Perl-verse this is legal or at least considered.

What I'm seeking is the LAST array element; I want shift to toss the top one.

this is similar to something else I often do successfully:

@_ = split /,/,join "\n",$myscalar

[download]
I was trying to do something similar with shift.. I also tried
shift @_ = split /,/,join "\n",$myscalar

[download]
Which I thought had the best chance. Mr TVVALUT has a solution I'll try... I recognize the list/ARRAY difference which is why I was trying various "@{}" constructs to coerce it. Seems like if I can split a join, then I ought to be able to shift a split!

TY all!

In reply to Re^3: why can't I shift a split? by misterperl
in thread why can't I shift a split? by Anonymous Monk

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