From the SPLIT function doc
The pattern /PATTERN/ may be replaced with an expression to specify patterns that vary at runtime...

If someone has a better explanation, or finds a stronger reason than tradition or performance for using /, please reply.

I know the quotes work because I tested them before posting.

Really? So did I and it did not work. The "stronger reason" is that most people forget that double qoutes interpolate and the forward slashes do not. See for yourself.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
no warnings 'uninitialized'; # prevents a warning on line 8
my $description = "Some descriptive text here^`my_username";
my ($desc, $username) = split("\^`", $description);
print "desc: $desc\n";
print "username: $username\n";
($desc, $username) = split(/\^`/, $description);
print "desc: $desc\n";
print "username: $username\n";
($desc, $username) = split("\\^`", $description);
print "desc: $desc\n";
print "username: $username\n";
__DATA__
desc: Some descriptive text here^`my_username
username:
desc: Some descriptive text here
username: my_username
desc: Some descriptive text here
username: my_username
[download]

OK - I now see what you are saying. Subtle requirement for escaping the "\". I must have missed it when pasting the code, because I do remember seeing it work.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the code to make your case.

    ..."I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know, and that's a good thing. I think it's a very constructive exchange," --Donald Rumsfeld