Primitive strings behaves like objects in JavaScript because they are automatically converted to objects when you call an object method:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String
String objects may be created by
calling the constructor new String().
The String object wraps JavaScript's
string primitive data type with the
methods described below. The global
function String() can also be called
without new in front to create a
primitive string. String literals in
JavaScript are primitive strings.
Because JavaScript automatically
converts between string primitives and
String objects, you can call any of
the methods of the String object on a
string primitive. JavaScript
automatically converts the string
primitive to a temporary String
object, calls the method, then
discards the temporary String object.
For example, you can use the
String.length property on a string
primitive created from a string
literal