In my second year in London, I was invited to the home of an English chap. His youngest brother was at Eton, the world famous school, so he suggested we go and see it. On the way from Taplow, I was greeted by some rather frightening signs signalling the villages we were approaching: Burnham (which sounds just like “burn’em”), Cookham (which sounds just like “cook’em”), then Eton (which sounds just like “eaten”).
Note: For those unfamiliar with the quirky inconsistent English pronunciation, especially of place names, Burnham is not pronounced “burn ham”, nor Cookham “cook ham”. And for those unfamiliar with shortened versions, burn’em = burn them, and cook’em = cook them.
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