$dwarfs = [ qw(Doc Grumpy Happy Sleepy Sneezy Dopey Bashful) ]; print "@{$dwarfs}\n"; print "@dwarfs\n"; @removed = splice @{$dwarfs},3 ,2; $removed = [ @removed ]; #1. please notice : this makes a copy first of @removed . # changes to @{$removed} will NOT affect @removed #$removed = \@removed ; #2. please notice : this is a hard reference . # changes to @{$removed} will affect @removed. # let's examine the above : Just uncomment one of the above lines # it's you're choise which one to use. pop @{$removed} ; print "@removed\n";