STAFF/STAFFS

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When the word staff refers to a group, the word for more than one such  group—plural—is staffs. However, each staff may have multiple members, and those members are called staff—the plural—rather than staffs. Just as curious, perhaps, is the British tendency to not have the verb agree with the singular subject staff when it signifies a group. In the following illustration, the American perspective comes first:

While staffing here, across the pond,
The staff was clearly seen as one.
Returning home, despite such bond,
The tone was that of separation.

The staff were welcomed home with cheer,
Reception steeped in beer and rum.
Where’er such staffs may find their fare,
Their worth is greater than their sum.