so i asked a while ago for an regex alternative to substr.. here is 1 of the replies: 
$string = "hello world";
print $string =~ /^.{1}(.{5})/;

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also i know that !$! = 1, so i tried this: 
$string = "hello world";
print $string =~ /^.{!$!}(.{5})/;

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that would produce an empty line, why? I have tried many different ways but seems im restricted to using digits. just out of curiosity, why cant i do this?

In reply to weird regex question by Anonymous Monk

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