# The Berenstein Bears Controversy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165 "2015-08-28T12:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/1 "2015-08-28T12:39:25Z")
Everyone remembers the Berenstein Bears, right? Well, hold onto your hats, because this gets seriously creepy. See, The Berenstein Bears _never existed_. Nope, never. But you remember them, right? Turns out all evidence available today points to them having been The Beren **stain** Bears. Yet many people remember -stein very clearly. How could this possibly be? Available evidence suggests parallel universe problems. From: [http://www.avclub.com/article/how-you-spell-berenstain-bears-could-be-proof-para-223615](http://www.avclub.com/article/how-you-spell-berenstain-bears-could-be-proof-para-223615) > [@](#): > > at some time in the last 10 years or so, reality has been tampered with and history has been retroactively changed. The bears really were called the “BerenstEin Bears” when we were growing up, but now reality has been altered such that the name of the bears has been changed post hoc. > > Somehow, we have all undergone a π/2 phase change in all 4 dimensions so that we moved to the stAin hexadectant, while our counterparts moved to our hexadectant (stEin). They are standing around expressing their confusion about the “Berenstein Bears” and how they all remember “Berenstain Bears” on the covers growing up. Scary stuff. Since reading about this I haven’t been able to sleep. It’s been 2 days now. Blood is trickling out of my ears. Must alert others. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/2 "2015-08-28T13:03:27Z")
You must have missed [this thread/poll from last year](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722075). ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/3 "2015-08-28T13:03:54Z")
In my universe, it was always -stain, and in my house, pronounced like a stain on your shirt, but when I went out into the world at large, people all pronounced it stein, like a beer stein. I couldn’t understand how so many people could be morons, and I struggle with that question to this day. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/4 "2015-08-28T13:09:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You must have missed [this thread/poll from last year](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722075). I searched. Hard. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/5 "2015-08-28T13:12:01Z")
Goldberg, Iceberg… what’s the difference?.. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/6 "2015-08-28T13:16:17Z")
They have always been the Berenstain Bears in my world. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/7 "2015-08-28T13:32:55Z")
As a kid I always pronounced it “Bern-steen”. I also completely butchered “Hermione”, though, so I guess my parallel universe is a particularly exotic one. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/8 "2015-08-28T13:36:53Z")
We always pronounced it Beren-steen Bears, like mangosteen. But I had no recollection of how it was actually spelled, so when I learned recently that others pronounce it BerenSTAIN and I looked at one of the books to see it’s spelled that way I decided to retrain my pronunciation. The retraining has been rocky. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/9 "2015-08-28T13:58:09Z")
I remember being a child, annoyed at other kids who pronounced it “Beren-STINE”. Couldn’t they see it wasn’t spelled that way? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/10 "2015-08-28T13:59:56Z")
Yep, I don’t recall not noticing the spelling - always “-stain.” Human perception - sensory and neurological - is fascinating stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/11 "2015-08-28T14:02:19Z")
Stains and Steins. Sounds like Octoberfest… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/12 "2015-08-28T14:04:09Z")
I opened the thread to tell you that you misspelled ‘Berenstain’, so I think you can guess where I come down on this one. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/13 "2015-08-28T14:21:31Z")
I grew up in the -stein universe, pronounced “Bear-en-steen,” so I’m also flummoxed by this shift. I guess when I moved from Michigan to Arizona, or when I moved back to Michigan, I missed a turn at Albuquerque and went through a wormhole. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/14 "2015-08-28T14:38:54Z")
This is why I only give my kid Little Critter books. All the same moral lessons taught by anthropomorphic animals named Mother, Brother, Sister, etc but none of the name confusion. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/15 "2015-08-28T14:46:19Z")
Is the Berenstein universe the same one that has the alternate ending to Big? ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/16 "2015-08-28T14:50:44Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > I remember being a child, annoyed at other kids who pronounced it “Beren-STINE”. Couldn’t they see it wasn’t spelled that way? Exactly, and it was adults too! People see what they expect to see instead of actually looking at stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/17 "2015-08-28T15:01:23Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I opened the thread to tell you that you misspelled ‘Berenstain’, so I think you can guess where I come down on this one. Ditto. And it’s worth noting that the authors of the books have the last name Berenstain, so it’s reasonable to think that this is what they named their characters. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/18 "2015-08-28T15:14:23Z")
There is a similar situation discussed regarding Nelson Mandela. There are people who _swear_ he died in prison. He did not. Not in _this_ time stream/reality. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/19 "2015-08-28T15:25:08Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Goldberg, Iceberg… what’s the difference?.. 😃 There’s like, six people in the world that know that joke. I’ve only met two and one was the guy that told it to me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165/20 "2015-08-28T15:46:56Z")
I knew it was Berenstain before there were any bears; my parents had [Marital Blitz](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bCQTj9mXL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg) in their bookcase. Before they created the bears,\* they wrote a series of humorous guides to marriage and relationships a la Dave Barry. \*Which I had never heard of in him childhood. When I first I heard of them, I though, "Oh, those are the people who did **Marital Blitz** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berenstein-bears-controversy/729165.md?page=2)