in reply to array of arrays

Easy:
@list = qw(this that and another); @array = ([@list], [1, 2, 3]); #value of $array[0][2] is now 'that'
You can then reference the internal arrays as you would any multidimensional array.
The thing to keep in mind here is that hashes and arrays can only keep scalar values- so referencing
@array
is doing it in list mode.
[@array] \@array
is fetching it as a reference. Keep in mind that that \@array is only a shallow copy- modifying the value in a dereferenced context will modify @array itself, where as modifying the value of [@array] will keep @array untouched.