** looks like a pipe in a table
   :PROPERTIES:
   :DATE:     2011-03-07
   :END:
#+name: clean
#+begin_src emacs-lisp :var in=""
  (flet ((clean (in)
                (if (listp in)
                    (mapcar #'clean in)
                  (if (stringp in)
                      (replace-regexp-in-string "¦" "|" in)
                    in))))
    (clean in))
#+end_src

#+name: regexps
| first  | (a¦b) |
| second | (1¦2) |

#+begin_src perl :var a=clean(in=regexps)[0,1] :var b=clean(in=regexps)[1,1]
  $a; $b;
#+end_src

#+name:
: (1|2)