title: Can a variable named as `$something` be referred to by `someting`, that is without the dollar sign?
body: <p>I am examining some PHP code written by somebody else, and they have basically named a variable <code>$text</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>protected $text = null;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>And then later in the same file, they are referring to it without the <code>$</code> sign:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$this-&gt;text[$name] = new Text($age, $house);
  </code></pre>
  
  <ol>
  <li>I am a little intrigued. Is this even possible? Can a variable named
  with a <code>$</code> concatenated with some word, be referred with only the
  part of the identifier other than <code>$</code>?</li>
  <li>If yes, does it imply something special or is it a simple reference
  to the variable?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>PS: I don't think the code is faulty because it works =s</p>