Since you store the result of the split in the array @word, you actually have to use it: 
$sth->execute($words[0], $words[1]) or die $DBI::errstr;

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(As a side node $1 is not a register, but a (special) variable that is set by the regex engine.

In reply to Re: split a line into 2 variables and store in SQL by moritz
in thread split a line into 2 variables and store in SQL by sharan

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