$ cat junk
use strict; use warnings;
use diagnostics;
my %where = ();
$where{something} = 4;
$where{something}{else} = 5;
__END__


$ perl junk
Can't use string ("4") as a HASH ref while "strict refs" in use at junk line 5 (#1)
    (F) Only hard references are allowed by "strict refs".  Symbolic
    references are disallowed.  See perlref.

Uncaught exception from user code:
        Can't use string ("4") as a HASH ref while "strict refs" in use at junk line 5.
 at junk line 5


##</code><code>##

#~  $where{$colname}=$colval; 
$where{$colname}{colval} =$colval;