It is all in the context.

Your assignment to "my $var" is in a scalar context.

The result of the regular expression is a single item in a list context.

You can get the desired result by: 

my ($var) = $line =~ /.*?:(\w+):.*?$/; # Declare $var in a List contex
+t.

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     Potentia vobiscum ! (Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes)

In reply to Re^3: Regular Expression by NetWallah
in thread Regular Expression by Sun751

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