# Alpine = Alpeen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065 "2023-04-23T00:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/1 "2023-04-23T00:15:14Z")
Watching Drive to Survive the last few weeks and the Alpine team members keep referring to themselves as “Alpeen”. Is this a common pronunciation? As an American I cannot resolve this pronunciation. WTH? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/2 "2023-04-23T00:21:16Z")
Alpeen is the British pronunciation, and as the team is mostly based in Enstone and the coverage is mostly British, that’s what we hear. The French pronounce it differently [I guess?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pLelpHVLdxI) It’s funny how the difference pronunciations stick in that context. Like garage. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/3 "2023-04-23T01:33:18Z")
I must say I continue to be amazed and amused by the American tendency to believe that the way we pronounce words in the US is THE ONLY RIGHT WAY to say them. Especially since this completely overlooks the dozens of different ways different regions in the US pronounce words. pe-can vs. pe-cahn, etc. We’re still busy battling with our own countrymen about how things should be pronounced. I do generally defer to the Brits when they declare how a word should be pronounced in actual English english, but even there, we find their pronunciations of particular words have drifted over the centuries. Having rambled on about that long enough, I admit I do say al-pine in regular use, but have heard al-peen employed more often than rarely. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/4 "2023-04-23T01:45:45Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I must say I continue to be amazed and amused by the American tendency to believe that the way we pronounce words in the US is THE ONLY RIGHT WAY to say them. So people in other countries don’t do this? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/5 "2023-04-23T01:54:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So people in other countries don’t do this? I can only speak about American tendencies in this area as that’s the crowd I hang with. But I’m sure there’s lots of prescriptive grammar/pronunciation type folks worldwide ---
**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 23, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/6 "2023-04-23T01:56:50Z")
I’ll second **QtM** ’s first post but with a caveat. This is an international board. We have a non-trivial number of members from all over the world. Many of whom have English as their second or third languages. Any USAian who posts here who behaves as if the entire audience lives in the same US state as they do is being impolitely obtuse. Any USAian who posts here as if the entire audience is USAian is being uncomfortably obtuse. I try not to be obtuse. Sometimes I even succeed. But I try to keep close to top of mind that this is not NextDoor. We may all be friends here, but we are not all neighbors. The audience is not homogenous culturally, linguistically, nor legally. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/7 "2023-04-23T02:19:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > We have a non-trivial number of members from all over the world. Many of whom have English as their second or third languages. Just curious - what do you think the percentage of non-US board members? I’d guess no more than 10% (which is certainly no-trivial) - but that’s just a WAG. ---
**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 23, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/8 "2023-04-23T02:40:18Z")
Active? 10-15% tops. Historically, I’d WAG a few percent more. The Trump years and the resulting over-the-top all-politics all the time theme around here kinda ran off a bunch of the non-USA crowd. And a lot of USAians to boot. Almost including me. Of course who’s where depends partly on the topic. Lotta Canadians right now in the “I can’t believe it’s still snowing” thread, but rather few in the “DeSantis can’t win” thread. IMO It’s fine for anyone to be provincial. I object to unknowingly provincial. Seems impolite. Not that hard to write something like " 'Round here where I live driver’s license numbers have 12 digits" rather than “All driver’s licenses numbers have 12 digits.” ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/9 "2023-04-23T02:52:35Z")
Somewhat relatedly, on a trip to Italy I took a while back with a mostly American group, the guide was surprised that we used the word “alpine” to refer to any mountain activity, not just those that take place in the Alps. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/10 "2023-04-23T06:50:03Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I do generally defer to the Brits when they declare how a word should be pronounced in actual English english, but even there, we find their pronunciations of particular words have drifted over the centuries. We watched a BBC show hosted by Alexander Armstrong in which he mentioned Vilvadi. I had no idea that the Brits pronounce it differently. So it’s not even just the English words which are pronounced differently in the US and the UK. [https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+vilvadi&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t#bsht=CgRmYnNtEgQIBDAB](https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+vilvadi&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t#bsht=CgRmYnNtEgQIBDAB) My parents, who live in Seattle, recently mentioned that even between Seattle and Victoria, there are significant differences in pronunciation. I also think, as we get older, it is more difficult to understand those differences, if you’re not used to them. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/11 "2023-04-23T06:55:16Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Alpeen is the British pronunciation, and as the team is mostly based in Enstone and the coverage is mostly British, that’s what we hear. I haven’t watched this programme, but have never heard the ‘alpeen’ pronunciation used in the UK. Not that the word ‘alpine’ comes up very often. Is it possible they’re pronouncing it differently because it’s a team name, as opposed to referring to the Alps? ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/12 "2023-04-23T07:55:04Z")
Alpine is a French team, so the French pronunciation is Alpeen. It is a French manufacturer of racing and sports car, closely related to Renault ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/13 "2023-04-23T09:00:35Z")
yes, people are talking about two completely different things here. The word “alpine” as it relates to european mountain activities or scenery is pronounced, in the UK, as “al-pine” (as in the tree.) And that is pretty much without exception. “Alpine” where it is referring to the racing team and car company, is pronounced “al-peen”, but some people may not know this and use the first pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/14 "2023-04-23T10:16:06Z")
PS: Is there a different pronunciation of “Vivaldi” in the US - I’m having trouble imagining it (VIV-aldi? Viv-ALL-di? Or some variant starting VIE?) AFAIK it’s pronounced much the same across all European languages. Unlike, of course, Van Gogh [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KjOvPZTURLI/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Pronounce Vincent Van Gogh? | Dutch & English Pronunciation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjOvPZTURLI) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/15 "2023-04-23T11:37:06Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Somewhat relatedly, on a trip to Italy I took a while back with a mostly American group, the guide was surprised that we used the word “alpine” to refer to any mountain activity, not just those that take place in the Alps. Wow. It was just yesterday that I read a reference to a California mountain described as Alpine. WTF? I had always thought it applied only to the Alps. mmm ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/16 "2023-04-23T12:04:09Z")
I’ve heard it used to refer to the biome above the tree line on any mountain. Pronounced al-pine. Pronounced by people who grew up in the US. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > The word “alpine” as it relates to european mountain activities or scenery is pronounced, in the UK, as “al-pine” (as in the tree.) And that is pretty much without exception. And…i guess that’s also the UK pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/17 "2023-04-23T12:15:13Z")
Yes, it is. What about Vivaldi? I say it Vi·val·dee. According to Google, Americans say Vi·vaal·dee. Italians appear to say Viv·_al_·dee, which is subtly different to both. [How To Say Vivaldi - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYiM_yyTqAE) ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/18 "2023-04-23T13:44:09Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > yes, people are talking about two completely different things here. > > The word “alpine” as it relates to european mountain activities or scenery is pronounced, in the UK, as “al-pine” (as in the tree.) And that is pretty much without exception. > > “Alpine” where it is referring to the racing team and car company, is pronounced “al-peen”, but some people may not know this and use the first pronunciation. Wait, is the F1 Team not associated with the Alpine car stereo company? That may be why I’m discombobulated because the logo looks like the stereo company which, at least in the states, has only ever been called Al-pine. For what it’s worth I wasn’t posting this to imply that the US pronunciation is correct, just that I’m 46 years old and have never heard it pronounced Al-peen in my life and all of the folks on DTS pronounce it that way, even the American guys which surprised me. Mundane. Check. Pointless. Check. Shared. Check. ETA: Hey, did the name of this forum change? I swear it used to be called Mundane and Pointless Stuff I Must Share. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/19 "2023-04-23T13:56:34Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > PS: Is there a different pronunciation of “Vivaldi” in the US - I’m having trouble imagining it (VIV-aldi? Viv-ALL-di? Or some variant starting VIE?) **Die\_Capacititrix** posted _Vilvadi_. I thought it was ‘Vivaldi’ at first, but apparently Vilvadi is some sort of Hindu thing. I doubt many people in the U.S. have ever heard of it. (I haven’t.) > [@Cubsfan](#): > > ETA: Hey, did the name of this forum change? I swear it used to be called Mundane and Pointless Stuff I Must Share. > [@MPSIMS has gotten a minor rename to “Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mpsims-has-gotten-a-minor-rename-to-miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/981943): > > The existing name is [Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share-mpsims-category/911000) But the “Mundane Pointless” has been an issue with Breaking News and Death Notices of members being in this forum. The suggestion came from Irishman. The Mods and Ed agreed it was an excellent change and we like the fact the acronym remains the same. This thread is open for comment. ETA: The change should happen within the week, but maybe as soon as Sunday. > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Unlike, of course, Van Gogh I used to watch _Match Game 73_ after school. (It was a U.S. game show of the '70s.) The host, Gene Rayburn, always pronounced it ‘van Gockhh’ – rather exaggeratedly, as if he was trying to be funny. ISTR that he was actually an intelligent person, and that he may have been trying to educate under the guise of comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065/20 "2023-04-23T13:58:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And…i guess that’s also the UK pronunciation? Correct, I’ve never heard anyone in the UK ever use the “al-peen” pronunciation when using it as an adjective. i.e. referring to the alpine biome, alpine conditions, alpine roads, alpine mountains etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpine-alpeen/983065.md?page=2)