#!perl

use warnings;
use strict;

my # I hate to say this, as it's not mine
$text = q{

"'My Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:--"Lord Backwater tells me that I may
place implicit reliance upon your judgement and discretion. I have
determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you in reference
to the very painful event which has occurred in connection with my
wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is acting already in the matter,
but he assures me that he sees no objection to your co-operation,
and that he even thinks that it might be of some assistance. I will
call at four o'clock in the afternoon, and, should you have any other
engagement at that time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this
matter is of paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.'

 -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 1892.

};

use locale;
my $stuff_between_words = qr{
  [^[:alnum:][:space:]]*
  (?: [[:space:]]+ | --+ | ^ )
  [^[:alnum:]]*
 }x;
my @words = split $stuff_between_words, $text;
shift @words; # remove the empty word from the beginning

print join("  ", map "<<$_>>", @words), "\n";

__END__