Forums > Technical Discussion > Staffs or Staves
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Location: South Australia, Australia
Ok, I know I am opening a can of worms but what is considered to be the plural of staff.
I would assume staves but ..... so yall that are intell.... clever, let me know. k.
Liberti
I believe in freedom, love, truth, and beauty.
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Pheonix, can of worms all right As defined by Charles, page 2 if they are short, they are staves, if they are long, they are staffs.
Also see this thread.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
1,100 posts
Location: Denver, Co. U.S.A.
But according to Websters dictionary, The Oxford dictionary, and most other dictionaries, 'staves' is the proper plural of staff, length of the staff is apparently not an issue in the proper usage.
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Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
And, just to show my human side (don't ask me what the other side is...) SickPuppy is correct.
I'd simply heard the term staves used when others were using short staves. Probably because people don't use single short staffs veyr much.
so yes I was wrong, puppy was right and yet the world keeps turning (or should I say twirling?)
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Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Apologies Charles, I didn't mean to drop you in it. I just thought we had reached a consensus on the staff/staves issue.
Staves as the plural, probably sounds better than staff's. But, I suspect staff's would be just as correct, grammatically. I like doubles, but double what? Double staff's, although that says nothing about size/length.
So, feeling a bit lost, I looked up quarterstaff in my dictionary and discovered that the plural of quarterstaff is staves. A quarterstaff being a weapon consisting of a stout pole 6 to 8 feet in length, tipped with iron.
So, I suppose if anything staves refers to longer staffs rather than shorter staffs.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Personally, i always refer to Charles's, verdict, whether i am talking to a HoPer or not! i had always assumed that charle's stand was that staves indicated simply plural staff. length is a simple matter of a brief mention of short staff/long staff. I takes a little getting used to 'staves' but i feel less silly.
not to imply at all that silly = stupid.
far from it!
code:
silly(person){
var behaviour;
if (person.behaviour != 'normal') then {
return(true)
} else {
return'false';
}
}
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old hand
1,031 posts
Location: Bath, England
Spoons!
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
No, Staves
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
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