# Spelling Albuquerque **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501 "2015-04-25T05:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/1 "2015-04-25T05:57:17Z")
I wonder how many Albuquerqians are not able to spell the name of the city they live in correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/2 "2015-04-25T06:13:53Z")
Heck, it’s a misspelling to begin with. The city is named after the town of[Alburquerque](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alburquerque,_Badajoz) in Spain (note the extra “r”). Yeah, I know. Cue posts from Albuquerqueans (and yes, I probably totally spelled that wrong) about how it’s not actually a misspelling, it was entirely on purpose, and you totally meant to do that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/3 "2015-04-25T06:14:35Z")
i tended to trip over the placement of the Q’s and E’s when I first moved to Santa Fe, up until I’d been there for a few weeks and my crappy student job required me to spend about three hours hand-addressing envelopes, most of which were going there. In my experience, a lot of people just shorten it to ABQ. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/4 "2015-04-25T07:56:57Z")
If I moved there the number would go up by one. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/5 "2015-04-25T08:39:36Z")
The narrator in Weird Al Yankovic’s song can’t spell Albuquerque: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JE37e1eK2mY/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgWSg7MA8=&rs=AOn4CLAnmPyZBtolECMv251SjtEaeCD3vQ "Weird Al Yankovic - Albuquerque: THE MOVIE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE37e1eK2mY) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/6 "2015-04-25T08:53:59Z")
It means “City of left turns.” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/7 "2015-04-25T10:07:32Z")
I had it on a spelling test in the third grade, and I’ve never forgotten it. Had Czechoslovakia the week before, and never forgotten that, either. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/8 "2015-04-25T12:54:29Z")
I expect John Cleese in full waitress uniform to come down the aisle yelling **ALBUH-KIRK!** ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/9 "2015-04-25T13:44:59Z")
I just used Abq whenever I lived there. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/10 "2015-04-25T15:39:30Z")
When I lived in Albuquerque, I found it fun to spell. A lot more fun they my pokey West Texas hometown. Albuquerque Albuquerque Albuquerque. I never once shortened it to ABQ. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/11 "2015-04-25T15:42:52Z")
Are they Albuquerqians, Albuquerqites, or Albuquooks? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/12 "2015-04-25T15:45:42Z")
As I recall, we referred to ourselves as Albuquerqueans. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/13 "2015-04-25T16:26:37Z")
Albuquerqians → 488 Google hits Albuquerqites → 5 Google hits Albuquooks → 1 Google hit (this thread) Albuquerqueans → about 10,600 Google hits (I did actually bother to look this up for my original post, and Albuquerqians was used in a newspaper article) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/14 "2015-04-25T19:25:24Z")
I’m not from there, but it’s that first U that trips me up. I’m not used to a U becoming a full schwa. I want it to be an A. And I think any demonym without a U after each Q looks wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/15 "2015-04-26T03:54:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And I think any demonym without a U after each Q looks wrong. I have the same issue due to Spanish spelling rules; in Spanish it’s a digraph like CH. Q always carries a U, and it’s always part of _que_ or _qui_ (pronounced /ke/ and /ki/): _quién, qué_… If there is a /u/ then the spelling should be CU (Latin style) or KU (Greek style): for example, _cuánto_ (/'kuan.to/). But the thing is, sometimes (like the ever-confusing QANTAS) a word has a different origin and therefore doesn’t follow those rules. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/16 "2015-04-26T09:26:56Z")
QANTAS as a name, has always mildly irritated me – it rather feels like “cheating”. Find self wishing that the undertaking had originally styled itself “Queensland (usually) and Northern Territories Air Services” – aviation in the 1920s was, after all, fairly hit-and-miss… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/17 "2015-04-26T14:40:52Z")
There’s a pitcher that my baseball team often faces named Al Albuquerque. I’ve been writing about every game my team plays now for 5 years, and I’ve gotten good at it. Probably after 2 or 3 times having to write it. Surely someone who lives there can do it! ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/18 "2015-04-26T14:45:09Z")
While I was living there, we coined several names for it: New Mexistan, Albutraz, the Land of Entrapment. Needless to say, we moved as quickly as we could and never went back–even for a shrt visit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/19 "2015-04-26T14:55:10Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Are they Albuquerqians, Albuquerqites, or Albuquooks? I prefer Albuquacks. 🙂 And thanks to the “Albu-” part it even echoes 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501/20 "2015-04-26T15:09:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I prefer Albuquacks. 🙂 I take it that this would refer to the medical community in the city? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-albuquerque/718501.md?page=2)