Example of a sentence with the word 'staffs' in please?

[marthamoo]

And no smart arse ones like "We are moving to Staffs."

It's one of ds1's spellings - they are all singular and plural words, some regular, some irregular - he has staff and staffs. I just had a bizarre phone conversation with Troutpout (her ds is in the same year) with all our kids yelling in the background so we couldn't hear each other and her going "so is it staarf and staarfs?" and me going "yeah, staff and staffs" (bl@@dy Southerners). We couldn't come up with a good use for the words staffs - apart from my rather pathetic "The assorted Biblical folk gathered their staffs and set off across the desert."

So staffs...

This isn't part of the homework, btw - we're just puzzled!

What an educational and informative thread this is turning out to be

I was all ready to get arsey over the fact that the plural of staff (teachers) is staff and completely forgot there could be alternative meanings

iota

hey moo

think you should hand it in anyway for extra credit after all if the staff can't be swayed by extra work then they need beating with staffs IMHO

Told you before Moo...i speak proper ..it's you bloody northerners who have trashed the English language.

I only came up with Biblical figures with staffs (full of fury)

or
headmaster staffs his school with rather a strange bunch of teachers who give out stooopid spellings

Ain't that the truth, trout. Ds1 looked blank when I asked about you know who being with child, btw.

I thought that the plural of 'staff' (in the knobbly, wizard-y, shepherd-y sense) was 'staves'. I am not convinced that 'staffs' is a real word (except as a verb).

According to the dictionary definition, the plural for staff is either staff or stave.

That will be staffs or staves ...

"headmaster staffs his school" is a verb though rather than the plural of staff.

fantastic thread, I am rofl (and very impressed at ingenuity of MN-ers)

So staffs may not exist at all as a plural? Curiouser and curiouser.

OED says staffs is a valid plural, though I must say my gut instinct was 'one roof, lots of rooves, one staff, lots of staves'.

now you're confusing the issue - -a stave is a separate word entirely

stave Pronunciation (stv)
n.

1. A narrow strip of wood forming part of the sides of a barrel, tub, or similar structure.
2. A rung of a ladder or chair.
3. A staff or cudgel.
4. Music See staff1.
5. A set of verses; a stanza.

from here

staff 1 Pronunciation (stf)
n. pl. staffs or staves (stvz)
1.
a. A stick or cane carried as an aid in walking or climbing.
b. A stout stick used as a weapon; a cudgel.
c. A pole on which a flag is displayed; a flagstaff.
d. A rod or baton carried as a symbol of authority.
2. pl. staffs A rule or similar graduated stick used for testing or measuring, as in surveying.
3. pl. staffs
a. A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
b. A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
c. The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise: the nursing staff of a hospital.
4. Something that serves as a staple or support.
5. Music A set of horizontal lines and intermediate spaces used in notation to represent a sequence of pitches, in modern notation normally consisting of five lines and four spaces. Also called stave.
tr.v. staffed, staff·ing, staffs

1. To provide with a staff of workers or assistants.
2. To serve on the staff of. [Middle English staf, from Old English stæf.]

from here

How much do I want to print this thread off and stick it in ds1's spellings book ?