use strict;
my $str = '';
my $regex = qr/f+u+(c+k*(?!h)|c*k+)|\bf +u +(c( +k)?|(c +)?k)\b|(?<!mi|\bpe)s+h+i+t+(?!ake|t?im\b)|\bs +h +i +t\b|\bshat\b|(?<!phill?ip (k.? )?)d+i+(c+)?k+(?!ens|inson)|b+i+t+c+h+|c+u+n+t+|(?<=go(d[- ]*)?)d+a+m+n*|\ba+ss+(\b|hole)/ip;
if ( $str =~ /$regex/ ) {
print "Whole match is ${^MATCH} and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[0] and \$+[0]\n";
# print "Capture Group 1 is $1 and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[1] and \$+[1]\n";
# print "Capture Group 2 is $2 ... and so on\n";
}
# ${^POSTMATCH} and ${^PREMATCH} are also available with the use of '/p'
# Named capture groups can be called via $+{name}
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html