Online PHP editor | output for cAfmR

<?php $frequentlyWritten = array( 'option_name: akismet_spam_count', 'option_name:request_counter', '-option_name:request_counter, "option_name:'request_counter'", 'option_name:"request_counter", ); // https://regex101.com/r/wT6zG3/2 (query language) $re = "/(-)?(?:(\\S+):\\s*)?(?:'((?:[^'\\\\]|\\\\.)*)'|\"((?:[^\"\\\\]|\\\\.)*)\"|(\\S+))/"; foreach ($frequentlyWritten as $rule) { preg_match_all($re, $rule, $matches); print_r($matches); }