https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezrK2jZFiwM&feature=youtu.be Instead of thinking, "What messed up way can the British say this word?" our volunteer takes Barnstaple at face value and says it the way it's spelt. But beware, Barnstaple is another example of a name that includes a regular-seeming word. "Staple" is pronounced the same way in both countries, right? So it's Barn-staple, clearly. Well, no. Just to keep people on their toes, it's said as "Barn-stapple". And here's the correct pronunciation. By the way, "staple" derives from the Old French for "marketplace" and can also be spelled as "steeple".