There's another semi-common case where this happens, but I can't recall it off hand . . .
Sometime shift is indicated as +shift as hash key to prevent considering it as bare word 'shift' where actually the return value of function shift is intended.

In reply to Re: Re: Want a Hashref. Getting a List in Scalar Context. by artist
in thread Want a Hashref. Getting a List in Scalar Context. by hardburn

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