diff --git a/client/commands.go b/client/commands.go
index 88587fa..40febe1 100644
--- a/client/commands.go
+++ b/client/commands.go
@@ -30,16 +30,10 @@ const (
 	WHOIS        = "WHOIS"
 )
 
-// this file contains the various commands you can
-// send to the server using an Conn connection
-
-// This could be a lot less ugly with the ability to manipulate
-// the symbol table and add methods/functions on the fly
-// [ CMD, FMT, FMTARGS ] etc.
-
+// cutNewLines() pares down a string to the part before the first "\r" or "\n"
 func cutNewLines(s string) string {
-	r := strings.SplitN(s, "\\r", 2)
-	r = strings.SplitN(r[0], "\\n", 2)
+	r := strings.SplitN(s, "\r", 2)
+	r = strings.SplitN(r[0], "\n", 2)
 	return r[0]
 }
 
diff --git a/client/commands_test.go b/client/commands_test.go
index c3bb6ee..65d5948 100644
--- a/client/commands_test.go
+++ b/client/commands_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,25 @@ package client
 
 import "testing"
 
+func TestCutNewLines(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct{ in, out string }{
+		{"", ""},
+		{"foo bar", "foo bar"},
+		{"foo bar\rbaz", "foo bar"},
+		{"foo bar\nbaz", "foo bar"},
+		{"blorp\r\n\r\nbloop", "blorp"},
+		{"\n\rblaap", ""},
+		{"\r\n", ""},
+		{"boo\\r\\n\\n\r", "boo\\r\\n\\n"},
+	}
+	for i, test := range tests {
+		out := cutNewLines(test.in)
+		if test.out != out {
+			t.Errorf("test %d: expected '%s', got '%s'", i, test.out, out)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestClientCommands(t *testing.T) {
 	c, s := setUp(t)
 	defer s.tearDown()