1) You will note that "staff" and "polearm" are two different words which carry inherently different meanings in the English language. In core Accelerant games, staves are somewhat shorter and a wielder can strike with both ends. In contrast, polearms are the longest melee weapons generally available to players and have only one striking end. Both the length and the useable ends actually do alter how they are wielded. Moreover, and while I know some may find this puzzling, "book" is also a word separate and apart from "staff," and while you may use the phrase "I wouldn't poke that with a thirty-nine and a half foot book" in your daily parlance, most people do not use the two words "book" and "staff" or "pole" interchangeably. To say nothing of the confusion a "bookdancer" would cause at various celebrations of impending nuptials. Or, to put it another way: No, stop trying to squirrel the system with the Boffernomicon.
2) Discouraged weapons styles are actively discouraged. Allowed, yes, but they make me frown, or they should be very unusual among a given population. You must pay 4 CP for each discouraged weapon style you want to use.