$ perl -e " s/// " $ perl -e " s//// " syntax error at -e line 1, at EOF Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors. $ perl -e " s///blah;/ " Bareword found where operator expected at -e line 1, near "s///blah" syntax error at -e line 1, near "s///blah" Search pattern not terminated at -e line 1.