There's no space for doubts at all. If it starts with $ then it's a scalar variable name. It's a very basic rule in Perl. Like any Perl tutorial would mention it within a few paragraphs from the start.

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Bratmon 2 hours ago | parent [-]

So then wouldn't that make $|++ the variable name?

	▲	broken-kebab an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Smokey, this is not 'Nam! This is <Perl>, there are rules! '$' guarantees a scalar. Then it either alphanumeric id, or a single non-alphanumeric symbol. And the latter means you deal with a 'special' var which with 100% certainty has a documentation entry.