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ERNIE
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- The full Lemon
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ERNIE
Can anybody help?
Premium Bonds. ERNIE.
Everybody(?) knows that ERNIE stands for "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Bond#ERNIE
But I still get this nagging feeling that, in the possibly more grammatically correct 1950s, ERNIE originally stood for "Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment".
Am I imagining this?
Premium Bonds. ERNIE.
Everybody(?) knows that ERNIE stands for "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Bond#ERNIE
But I still get this nagging feeling that, in the possibly more grammatically correct 1950s, ERNIE originally stood for "Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment".
Am I imagining this?
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- Lemon Half
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Re: ERNIE
XFool wrote:…
But I still get this nagging feeling that, in the possibly more grammatically correct 1950s, ERNIE originally stood for "Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment".
Am I imagining this?
Apparently you are not imagining it:
Science Museum Group Collection http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ ... r-selector
Extract only:
ERNIE I (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment), 1957
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: ERNIE
I can only add that whether it is Indicating or acting as an Indicator, it seems to have had no desire to generate the string of numbers on my one premium bond that was purchased in the 1950s.
Maybe I should donate my certificate to keep it company in the Science Museum.
Maybe I should donate my certificate to keep it company in the Science Museum.
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- The full Lemon
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Re: ERNIE
PinkDalek wrote:Apparently you are not imagining it:
Science Museum Group Collection http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ ... r-selector
Extract only:
ERNIE I (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment), 1957
Oh fantastic! Thanks PD.
So I did remember correctly from all those years ago. Now if only I could remember what I was doing yesterday...
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif)
I wonder how correct my memory(?) is of how Premium Bonds came about? - People were pressing for a national lottery; a committee of the usual suspects was formed to look into the matter; it was the 1950s so the church amongst others was very much agin it; the committee came back with a "No", but had an interesting compromise suggestion...
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: ERNIE
PinkDalek wrote:XFool wrote:…
But I still get this nagging feeling that, in the possibly more grammatically correct 1950s, ERNIE originally stood for "Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment".
Am I imagining this?
Apparently you are not imagining it:
Science Museum Group Collection http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ ... r-selector
Extract only:
ERNIE I (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment), 1957
Although NS&I say "
Who is ERNIE?
Our Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, or ERNIE, was invented by one of the original Bletchley Park code breakers in 1956. Since then, he’s generated the numbers for 419 million tax-free prizes worth approximately £18.8 billion.
https://www.nsandi.com/ernie
So who is right and who is wrong? The Wikipedia entry quotes the NS&I source, whilst the Science Museum site is just a statement without any published citation. On the other hand, you might tend to believe the Museum over a financial website. This could be a source of endless pedantic fun
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
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Re: ERNIE
chas49 wrote:Although NS&I say "Who is ERNIE?
Our Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, or ERNIE, was invented by one of the original Bletchley Park code breakers in 1956. Since then, he’s generated the numbers for 419 million tax-free prizes worth approximately £18.8 billion.
https://www.nsandi.com/ernie
So who is right and who is wrong? The Wikipedia entry quotes the NS&I source, whilst the Science Museum site is just a statement without any published citation. On the other hand, you might tend to believe the Museum over a financial website. This could be a source of endless pedantic fun
On this thread, possibly. But I was just interested in whether it had been changed over the years.
Perhaps I should have posted elsewhere?
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
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- Lemon Half
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Re: ERNIE
chas49 wrote:This could be a source of endless pedantic fun
ERNIE II is also described by the Science Museum as Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment but, when they get to ERNIE 3, they describe it as Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment:
https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk ... r-selector
https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk ... tor-equipm
Also in the Museum:
https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk ... m-bond-mug
Missing apostrophe alert but correct in the narrative itself.
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: ERNIE
XFool wrote:Can anybody help?
Premium Bonds. ERNIE.
Everybody(?) knows that ERNIE stands for "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Bond#ERNIE
But I still get this nagging feeling that, in the possibly more grammatically correct 1950s, ERNIE originally stood for "Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment".
Am I imagining this?
Every time I read this thread, I am reminded of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI
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- Lemon Half
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: ERNIE
With the modern obsession of verbosity ,using several words where one sufficed previously, I look forward to Ernie becoming known as the "Automatic Electronically Powered Random Chance Numeric Selection Equipment Machine " , or for shortened to AEPRCNSEM .
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