Conversation:

Fantastic article!!! I never thought I would see such a piece of writing on h2g2.

There is a small typo near the top...you've put "Barnard" instead of "Bernard"...

Thanks for the praise!

I used the spelling "Barnard" as opposed to "Bernard" because of the fact that Lisa Simpson refers to him as Barnard when she names him as a suspect for the killing of Mr Burns in the classic two-parter "Who Shot Mr Burns?" and also as his name is Barny as opposed to Berny.

That's my take on it at least.

By the way, what do you mean when you say that you never thought a piece like this would appear on this site?

Well it's really random, that's all! Really good too.

But the spelling of the name is still incorrect - no matter how it is pronounced. Barny is the accepted shortened version of Bernard (said Bar'nard or Burn'urd depending on where you come from)...

I just found the fact that someone was referring to the old boozehound in such a formal way.

Here's to more lighthearted articles.

scunthorpe rocks. Check out the article. Or don't. Don't ask me, why should I know. What. WHAT??!?? khgvbervskdnvf

The sad thing about Barney is that he's all now reformed. How I miss that belch...*wipes a tear away*

Out of the blue, or your head...both apply.

The "Scunthorpe Problem" was mildly amusing though.

Excellent article! More of this standard, please!

In one episode, Barney quits drinking and promises that the world will
see:

"a new Barnard Gumble". It is correct.

-Shrubber
(a major Simpsons geek)

Two to one in favour of Barnard.

Any other takers?

Most of The Simpsons websites that his name is on have him down as Barnard.

One more for the home team!

Fantastic article - that line about Super Nintendo Chalmers still makes me giggle!

Interested in this whole Bernard / Barnard thing. So I did a bit of clicking...

My personal opinion is leaning toward Bernard. I agree with people who've said that Bernard is a far more popular name than Barnard, that Bernard is the usual root of the abbreviation Barney, and the name Bernard may be pronounced to sound like "Barnard" with the emphasis on the second syllable.

Searches on Google for "Bernard Gumble" then "Barnard Gumble" brought in many more results for Bernard, although there was a healthy showing for Barnard.

I looked at three different sites about names and their origins. Each listed Barnard just as a modern variation on the original name stem of Bernard, which itself is an anglification of the Ancient German name of Beornheard (meaning "Strong Bear").

But the killer is on Simpsons.com, the official site. They list our good ol' Mr. Gumble simply as Barney. I'm afraid that until we recieve confirmation from a certain Mr. Groening at Simpsons HQ - it's all just mere speculation!

Just to add to the confusion, I did the same experiment; almost all the "Barnard" variants are on German language pages - I suspect "Barnard" is the common German spelling of "Bernard"...

Surely you can find an email addy on the Simpsons site? Go and email Mr Groening NOW! Dammit! I know I am right...

"Groening" does sound of German derivation, so that could well be his preferred spelling...

(My preferred Spelling is Tori... )

My God, and I thought that I was pedantic!

If Barney is short for Bernard, what is Bernie short for?

Charlie

Bernadette...