[Lumpold]

Originally Posted by pektel

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough man strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

And this is why the English language is so hard to learn...
Similarly, the following sentence will often confuse people who are learning English, both young native speakers, and those learning English as a second language:

He strung his bow, carved from the bough of a tree, while stood on the bow of the ship.