Would somebody please explain?

[Noam Mendelson]

In article <1991Apr21.001702.5661 at umbc3.umbc.edu> rouben at math16.math.umbc.edu (Rouben Rostamian) writes:
>The command:
>    expr "Match" : "Ma"
>returns 2, as it should, since the first two characters of "Match" and "Ma"
>coincide.  Now, would somebody please explain why the command:
>    expr "match" : "ma"
>complains of a "syntax error"?

Remember that 'expr string : regexp' is a pseudonym for
'expr match string regexp'.  When you use "match" as the first argument,
expr expects two additional arguments (i.e., expr is interpreting the
"match" as a command).

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