Would [I] really use (c) in everyday speech?
I doubt it. My question regarding clientele is to the point, however. It was offered as an answer to a question about irregular plurals but I don't feel that clientele is the plural of client any more than city is the plural of building. Clientele is a group noun that refers to a specific bunch of clients. The matter isn't quite as clear cut with people/persons. Sometimes what sounds funny to us is just a usage we don't use very much. It might be logically correct but that doesn't necessarily make it good colloquial usage. Whether a group noun takes a singular or plural verb is a question of grammar by form vs. grammar by meaning. In this case it seems to be an USn vs. the rest of the (English speaking) world with y'all Canadians an unknown to me on this issue. Prominent in this dispute are such words as team (and the specific names of teams, e.g., Arsenal are expected to ... vs. Duke is expected to ...) and company (and the names of specific companies).
