Having read this thread, I think I would describe this as a case of The Price We Pay For Perl's Magic. The only other place I think of where I've seen something similar, is on a magic print-to-filehandle.

Compare 

my $scalar;
print $scalar "sausage";

[download]

and 

my %hash = ( x => 'XYZ' );
print $hash{x} "sausage";

[download]

The first compiles but the second generates a String found where operator expected compile time error (print tells you how to get round this problem, if you're interested).

I think this is a limitation in feature of Perl, and we're just going to have to live with it.

update: oha makes a fair point, and one that I agree with. It was a poor choice of words on my part. Post updated

In reply to Re: Using ternary operator as lvalue in push by FunkyMonk
in thread Using ternary operator as lvalue in push by oha

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