Ballot Explanations

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(2 January)
I say Bert and Ernie. The poetic meter of the phrase is much more 
rhythmic with the stressed/unstressed syllables paired. Ernie and Bert 
places the emphasized syllables at either end of the phrase, with the 
hard t ending the phrase too abruptly, one having been led by the first 
metric foot to expect Bert to be followed by two unstressed syllables.

Laurie, not quite believing that I just wrote this
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(3 January)
Bert and Ernie.  It was a visceral thing, but upon contemplation, 
isn't that the standard in show biz?  The straight man gets 
mentioned first.  e.g. Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, 
Martin and Lewis, Stiller and Meara...

Keep me anonymous.
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(3 January)
Bert and Ernie.  It flows off the tongue better this way.  It's like 
you're saying one name: Burton Ernie.  You wouldn't say "Ernien Bert," 
would you?
(anonymous, please)
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(3 January)
It's Bert and Ernie.  As with all good comedy teams (Burns & Allan, 
Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis) the straight man comes first in 
the billing.
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(3 January)
I say Ernie and Bert. Ernie always comes across as the dominant
of the pair. Unless you're really into pigeons or bottlecaps,
Ernie leaves the lasting impression. For that, he deserves top
billing.

Chris, who has WAY too much time on his hands...
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(3 January)
I always remember hearing "Ernie and Bert."  I've heard "Bert and Ernie" 
but "Ernie and Bert" comes to mind when I see the pair.  Maybe another 
reason could be "Jim Henson and Frank Oz" because Henson was the 
creator.

Ted
Who never talked intellectually about Ernie and Bert before...
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(3 January)
Bert and Ernie -- alphabetically, Bert comes first, and since
you really can't have one without the other, it seems the only
fair way of giving billing!

Katharine
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I voted Ernie and Bert, but honestly it was a very close call.
Truth is that I like the sound of "Bert and Ernie" better, but when
I read the instructions to vote my first instinct, well I saw the
picture and the question and my reflex response was "Ernie and Bert."
Now my two critiques--being a native English speaker I looked at 
the pictures left to right, and the left picture had Ernie on the left
side, so I may indeed have seen Ernie first and thought "Ernie" first.
And I think that perhaps having Bert and Ernie first in the list may
have swayed votes towards Bert.  But I think it just comes from loving
Ernie much more than that fuddy duddy Bert when I was a kid, so my
first interest is the more favored in the duo.

Have I gone on too long yet?

Ross
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(3 January)
Well, after all, the original Bert and Ernie were in "It's a 
Wonderful Life". Even then, George always addressed Bert first, 
then Ernie. 
I guess I'm just a traditionalist.
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(4 January)
I saw the picture on the left before I saw the picture on the
right - and viewing left to right I saw Bert and then I saw
Ernie.

What would be interesting would be to do a similar survey, with
the pictures swapped...
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(4 January)
Oh, I just voted 
that cause you didn't allow me to pick Bernie and Ert.
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(4 January)
Indeed I've examined it more often and I always say Ernie and Bert at 
first and then later switch to Bert and Ernie.  Odd how the one I prefer 
is not my first instinct.  Hmmmm.

Hope the program goes well, even though you've now [messed] with my head.

Ross [Editor's note: same Ross as above]
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(5 January)
I thought they were the Prez and Veep candidates of the Reform Party.
-Frank
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(5 January)
[from someone who voted for Ernie and Bert!]
You know, I think there are more important Bert and Ernie questions, like 
"Who paid the rent on that apartment?" "How come Ernie always bathed, but 
we never saw Bert in the tub?" and finally, "Why pigeons?"
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(5 January)
[from a Bert and Ernie voter]
That's the way they were always announced on the Show, so that's the way I 
grew up hearing it.
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(5 January)
I want to make a write-in vote.  Bernie and Ert.  
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(6 January)
It just always been Bert & Ernie for me. I don't know why. I suppose
its because it flows a little better..It kinda sounds like "Bert Nernie". :)
Anyways..Thats why I voted for Bert and Ernie
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(6 January)
I vote for Bert and Ernie because it rolls of the tongue, like 
"Bertenernie".  It's the same reason we say "elemenopee" when reciting 
the alphabet instead of "L M N O P."  I'm an American, I'm allowed to be lazy.
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It IS Bert and Ernie.  There's absolutely no question about it. 
It has always been Bert and Ernie, and will continue to be Bert
and Ernie forever.  Although I have never spent much time 
pondering over the subject, I instantly knew that calling the duo 
Ernie and Bert would be wrong... very wrong.

     Loyal Annonymous Fans!
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Bert and Ernie, because that's just the way it is....period.
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It has always been Ernie and Bert and always shall be. 
I think the people who like it the other way around are film
happy, "Forrest Gump" lovers who should be ashamed of themselves!

Super Grover
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I've always said Bert and Ernie.  That's just come natural-
ly.  B&E products seem split between the two, though:  
"The Best of Ernie and Bert," "Bert and Ernie's Sing-a-
long," "At Home with Ernie and Bert," and "Bert and Ernie's 
Greatest Hits" (a new CD due out February 6).
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Ernie & Bert - instinctively.  I grew up watching Sesame Street
in Hong Kong in the 70s.  We also had the Sesame Street Songbook.  I was
I was aware of Bert & Ernie merchandise, but it just sounded
strange that way round.  But then, I am English....
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I just always seemed to remember them billed as Ernie & Bert.
Bert and Ernie sounds too hard, while Ernie and Bert sounds
more lyrical somehow. Also when just using initials it seems
more people say E&B as opposed to B&E.
Tony, who wasn't influenced by the pictures because my web
browser doesn't have graphics.
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It's Bert and Ernie - always was, always will be.  This opinion from
a mom and her lovely daughter.
Just sign us Sesame Street Fans (but we REALLY LOVE ELMO!)
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I always think its Ernie and Bert. Even as a little kid it was Ernie and 
Bert. Now as a mother of Pre schoolers it still is and always will be 
Ernie and Bert. That is just how nature intended it to be. I've been 
fighting this battle for years it's nice to learn that I'm not alone.

Mom who needs a life!
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I voted Ernie & Bert, as that is what young me always thought was the one 
true way of saying it! I am a year older than Sesame Street, and hence in 
the program's first legion of fans. (I wish you'd asked for ages in the 
survey- I wonder if the other oldies tend to agree with me.) It is 
possible, though, that I identify more closely with Ernie as my other 
sibling is a 2-year older brother, who was always taller and more 
'vertical' in general, causing me to perceive the twosome as brothers, 
Ernie symbolizing me. But I bet that it's really because Ernie 
was named first in the  olden days of Early Sesame Street, back when they 
showed the chef falling down the stairs.
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bert n ernie are the proper way of doing things.  before the pics came up 
i knew this deep in my soul.  ernie and bert are just not right.

elli
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I picked "Ernie and Bert" for strictly aesthetic reasons--it
rolls off the tongue easier than the other way 'round, and is more
poetic. (Although, were I forced to choose between the two, Bert
would always get first billing in my heart. He paved the way for
punk rock, and was so cool guest-starring on the _Muppet Show_
episode where he danced with Connie Stevens...)
--Eliz
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How very interesting that some people remember the pair as Bert and 
Ernie, and others as Ernie and Bert.  But what is even more interesting 
is the vehemence with which their preferences have been voiced!  How very 
silly!  Of course, those who remember the pair being called Ernie and 
Bert are just plain crazy...
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It is Bert and Ernie... simply due to the alphabetical lessons
I learned whilst watching television. 
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It's Ernie and Bert. Definitely. That's because I'm from Holland where 
they don't say Bert and Ernie. (at least I think they don't)
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I have always said "Bert & Ernie."  But that's just how 
I think.  I don't know if anyone knows but, what happened to
Barkley the Dog?  Is his puppeteer, Fred Garbo, doing anything 
for Sesame Street?  Somebody tell me! I'd like to know!

The Singing Beetle
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I say Bert and Ernie because it just sounds right, anyway I vote from my 
first instint(the first head appeared was Bert's)

Loving Elmo as always,
Mindy
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I would say Bert and Ernie, even though we all know that
Cookie Monster is the only one who *really* counts....

- Mermaid
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I've always thought and said "Bert and Ernie".  No deep intellectual 
reasons:  it's just what comes naturally.
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It only feels natural to say bert amd ernie not ernie and bert, I cringe 
when I write that!
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It's Bert and Ernie.  After all if you look at it,
its brains before beauty.  What I want to know is:
If these guys aren't related how do they pay for 
their apartment and who do they work for.  And when
are they ever going to get some love interests???

Signed: Elmo, Cookie Monster and Telly Fan!!!
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Hello!
We are from Barcelona Spain. We are a fans to epi and Blas (this is the 
name in spain for bert and ???)
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It is Bert and Ernie. Period.  That's the way I grew up hearing it.  
That's the way it is.  That's the way it always will be.
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