Clunky expression in error message ("Useless use")

[COMBORICO]

The Problem

Useless use of "sqrt $five" in expression "sqrt $five" in sink context (line 2)

Error message sounds robotic, strange use of English.

Expected Behavior

Ineffectual use of...

Steps to Reproduce

my $five = 5;
sqrt $five;
say $five;

(This must be done in a script, not REPL.)

Also:

sub do_twice($code) {$code; $code}
WARNINGS for :
Useless use of $code in sink context (line 1)
sub do_twice ($code) { #`(Sub|94507960233504) ... }

[jnthn]

As a native English speaker, I don't find it particularly clunky. By contrast, "ineffectual" feels like useless use of a big word that still wants to mean "useless".

If anything, the "use of" could go away, as could repeating it if the useless term matches the expression as a whole, which would leave just Useless "sqrt $five" in sink context.

[usev6]

The phrase 'useless use of' has some interesting background, cmp. http://porkmail.org/era/unix/award.html

I like the error message and IMHO it would be a pity to drop the 'use of' part.

[COMBORICO]

Yeah, "useless use of" is fine. Sorry for taking up yall's time. Thanks for responses! Closing.