# "I shoulda turned left at Albuquerque" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [September 16, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796 "2020-09-16T22:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/21 "2020-09-17T00:35:14Z")
1978 - Generation X I know the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/22 "2020-09-17T00:45:17Z")
Without looking at any other replies, it’s from Bugs Bunny Right on the cusp of Gen-X/Millennial, formerly known as Generation Y. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/23 "2020-09-17T00:49:06Z")
Just turned 40, grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and my first thought was “Is it from something other than Bugs Bunny?” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/24 "2020-09-17T00:50:49Z")
I was born on the cusp, but I identify as Gen-X. Of course I know the reference. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/25 "2020-09-17T00:58:14Z")
'63 here. Of course I recognize the reference. It’s an embedded portion of my childhood. However, all things being equal, recency bias would make me favor [this](https://youtube.com/watch?v=oe5gaCxWOkg) instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/26 "2020-09-17T01:03:34Z")
Millennial (age 38). I recognize the reference and read it in the correct voice. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/27 "2020-09-17T01:04:57Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Isn’t it “I knew I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque”? That’s the form I know best. Maybe that’s a reason? That’s how I remember it, but I caught the OP’s drift. (Hope all is well! Been a while.) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/28 "2020-09-17T01:08:59Z")
My 20 and 22 year old also knew you might, rabbit; you might from a very early age, and didn’t hesitate to use it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/29 "2020-09-17T01:16:50Z")
I’m 60. I don’t remember not hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/30 "2020-09-17T01:17:38Z")
Born mid-50s and not only do I know the reference, I have in fact turned left at Albuquerque, ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/31 "2020-09-17T01:21:31Z")
Boomer here, in my early 60s. Yes, I do understand the reference, and can visualize the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/32 "2020-09-17T01:29:16Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > (Hope all is well! Been a while.) Indeed, it has been! Not too bad at all, actually! As I’ve mentioned on this board before, I have a keen job that I can WFH for, with good benefits and pay, and that alone is obviously pretty significant! Still playing Magic, though obviously I haven’t IRL lately. Trying Arena now that it’s on the Mac. Not bad. … I guess I should contribute to the topic at hand as well… I know this quote most well from ”Bully for Bugs,” and that’s where I got the wording I asked about, but after I thought about it, I looked it up. Turns out that, as I vaguely recalled, it wasn’t the first usage of that line; the first time was actually one of WB’s WWII propaganda cartoons. Although the cite I read also agrees on the wording I asked about, I still do have a vague memory of the OP title version actually being used verbatim, but that might just be misrecollection. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/33 "2020-09-17T01:32:46Z")
Say yer prayers, varmint! Ima gonna blast ya!! Tail end of the boomer generation and I know it well. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/34 "2020-09-17T01:38:40Z")
OK guys. What song does this lyric come from? “I know a chef in Albuquerque Who excels at baking turkey…” ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/35 "2020-09-17T01:39:06Z")
I asked both kids, and they indeed don’t remember not knowing it. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/36 "2020-09-17T02:08:41Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Born in 1946 and have no idea what it means. Born 1950, USA, and I also have no idea what it refers to. ---
**Author:** ![razordance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@razordance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/razordance)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/37 "2020-09-17T02:08:55Z")
Early GenX, and yes. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/38 "2020-09-17T02:13:01Z")
I just read the rest of the thread and I’m shocked that I don’t recognize a Bugs Bunny reference! I’ve loved the WB/Bugs Bunny cartoons since I was a child. How in the world did that one get past me? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/39 "2020-09-17T02:16:52Z")
I’m 58, US and I get it, and I asked my 21yo son and _he_ got it, probably because I shared my cultural touchstones with him when he was young. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796/40 "2020-09-17T02:17:58Z")
Late Boomer here, and I recognize it. I even read it in the accent that it’s delivered in. Now, if I said, “Point me in the direction of Albuquerque,” would anybody get that reference? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shoulda-turned-left-at-albuquerque/920796.md?page=3)