This was my initial reaction as well, but I appreciate the qs/hash sugaring: http://www.domain.com/path/index.html?query1=test&silly=willy#test=hash&chucky

This was my initial reaction as well, but I appreciate the qs/hash sugaring: http://www.domain.com/path/index.html?query1=test&silly=willy#test=hash&chucky=cheese $.url('?'); // query1=test&silly=willy $.url('?silly'); // willy $.url('?poo'); // (an empty string) $.url('#'); // test=hash&chucky=cheese $.url('#chucky'); // cheese $.url('#poo'); // (an empty string)