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?
日本語訳
マリア「もっと staffs を雇わないと」。トニー「仕事が多すぎるね」。アンバー「棒を？」。二人は驚きますが、アンバーは staffs と言うと「棒」という意味にもなると指摘します。なぜでしょう。
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解答・解説の日本語訳
従業員全体を意味する staff は集合的に使う語なので、ここでは more staff と言います。求人広告なら Hiring Additional Staff や Now Hiring が自然です。店員が一人増えるという意味で staffs と複数形にすると、英語話者には「複数の会社それぞれの従業員集団」や「複数の棒」を連想させることがあります。本文末の教室案内は原文のまま残します。