A Flash AS3 IRC application sends me a string like "f\reak" to my javascript. Irc allows the \ in usernames which poses a problem when its passed to javascript. "f\reak" become "feak" in javascript making the \r into a carriage return. Is there a way to read the absolute value of the string instead of parsing a carriage return? These don't methods didn't work str.valueOf() str.toString() str.charAt(position of the \ ) this just sees the carriage return as well and not a backslash