The problem with the specific snippet you quote here is that double-quoting the string leads it being interpolated, thus; 
$_ = "host|db_name|user|some@thing";

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will result in $_ containing `host|db_name|user|some`, at the array `@thing` is undefined at this point in the code.
Try using single quotes instead.

In reply to Re: Escaping MySQL password by kilinrax
in thread Escaping MySQL password by THRAK

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