Maria: We need to hire more staffs.
Tony: Yeah. There’s too much work.
Amber: Sticks?
Maria: Huh?
Tony: What?
Amber: You say we need staffs.
Maria: Right! T: Mmm.
Amber: Look: staffs are sticks.
Tony: “…”
Maria: No, they’re clerks.
Amber: No; ‘staffs,’ with an `s` means “sticks.”
And the reason?
ANSWER:
‘Staff,’ as in “company staff” is a non-count noun, thus a company, restaurant or shop wanting to hire more workers must refer to them as staff, as not “staffs,” as in:
Sony Hiring Additional Staff
Hiring Additional Staff
Most companies and restaurants–as well as other shops which put signs in the windows simply write:
Now Hiring
So every time you see a shirt in Japan or Korea that reads “Staffs”, it can correctly only mean:
‘the entire body of employees at several companies’
or…
‘sticks’
…in the minds of the native English speakers who see them–or at least that is what they think for a moment!
Come to class and learn to speak proper English! Go to: http://sayinsei.com.
CA
