Why are my functions second-class citizens?

[[e-mail]]

So, let's say, purely for the sake of argument, that I have a function like:

sub rv (@) { reverse @_; };

and I want to call it in this context:

sort rv @list;

Perl won't let me because it thinks I'm trying to use &rv as the comparison function for sort. I could say:

sort(rv(@list));

but that doesn't look as cool.

This works:

sort reverse @list;

How do get perl to treat &rv the same way?

======= (added in 2019)

This has been sitting at the back of my mind for the past seven years, and I have finally come back to it.

I wasn't clear in my original question on what I wanted to know, and as a result all the answers missed the point.

I don't want to put any of the code above in a program. I want to understand why this difference exists.

[Old_Gray_Bear]

Don't code for 'cool', code for clarity.

[choroba]

How cool is this?

sort +rv @list;

[LanX]

Some people want this DWIM functionality, which inhibits to Do What You Mean.

Instead of fiddling with this magical syntax, I'd recommend writing a function my_sort with a clear interface to do what you want.

[JavaFan]

If you don't like the sort-cut sort is offering you, you can always be explicit:

sort {$a cmp $b} rv @list;