Originally Posted by bad manners
In Latin, "eu", which originally was "ev" ('u' was a late addition to the alphabet), was pronounced as a short "e" and then a short "u"; this is so because "v" is either English "w" or "oo" (they added 'u' for the latter case). That is still coherent with the way "ευ" should be pronounced. German and Dutch are closer to the proper sound because it is still a diphthong, English apparently adopted the French pronunciation, and the French, well, will always be French when it comes to pronunciation. :-) What other language can transform "aqua" into "eau"?