Yeoman service far afield, even at sea
A look at a go-to metaphor for headline writers: Who are yeomen, anyway?
Yeoman warders take part in the traditional "ceremonial search" in the Prince's chamber in the houses of Parliament before the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament, at the Palace of Westminster in London.
Reuters
Words are the stories we use to tell other stories. They embody all sorts of metaphors and analogies.聽
Our English , for instance, comes from 鈥渄ay鈥檚 eye鈥�; the flower鈥檚 petals open at dawn and close at dusk.
Centuries ago, people noticed that the very light blond hair of a young child, especially when tousled, reminded them of flax fibers ready for spinning; tow is another word for these.
Most English-speakers today wouldn鈥檛 recognize a bundle of flax fibers if it were dropped on them by an Amazon delivery drone. But they know a as someone with very light blond hair.聽
Some phrases, though, retain their quality of 鈥渓ive metaphor,鈥� or at least appear to, even long after we lose our collective grip on their back story. One such phrase is yeoman鈥檚 service, alive and well on sports pages across America, never mind that it sounds like something out of Chaucer.聽
It鈥檚 more obviously 鈥渟ervice rendered by a yeoman, whoever that is鈥� than a 鈥渄aisy鈥� is the 鈥渄ay鈥檚 eye.鈥� But a Google News search not long ago for 鈥測eoman鈥� found that of the top 10 hits, half were proper names and the rest were references to 鈥測eoman鈥檚 service鈥� or 鈥測eoman鈥檚 work,鈥� typically in a sports context. That indicates that yeoman may be on its way to becoming a fossil word, out of general use except in a couple of specific idioms.
Who are yeomen, anyway, and what service do they render? Etymologically, yeoman means essentially 鈥測oung man,鈥� according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford鈥檚 first definition of yeoman, going back to the 14th century, begins, 鈥淎 servant or attendant in a royal or noble household....鈥� A second definition covers other kinds of attendants and officials.
Then there are the yeomen who are the royal bodyguards of countless travel posters, and naval yeomen, 鈥渋nferior鈥� officers in charge of the stores of a particular department.
There鈥檚 also a sense, going back to the early 15th century, of yeoman as 鈥渁 man holding a small landed estate.鈥� Such a yeoman, or 鈥測eoman farmer,鈥� wasn鈥檛 quite gentry but definitely a notch above (landless) peasants.
Even so, yeoman was sometimes a 15th-century put-down. To quote Oxford鈥檚 example (spelling modernized): 鈥淭hou yeoman, what sorry wretchedness is in thee?鈥� And the refers to a yeoman as in 鈥渢he third order of fighting men (late 14c., below knights and squires, above knaves).鈥� Not a prestige spot in the hierarchy.
Oxford鈥檚 unambiguous definition of yeoman鈥檚 service as a set phrase is anchored to the 鈥渟ervant鈥� rather than 鈥渓andowner鈥� definition: 鈥済ood, efficient, or useful service, such as is rendered by a faithful servant of good standing.鈥�
once grumbled about the phrase 鈥測eoman鈥檚 work鈥� that it 鈥渋s a term at the outer limits of usefulness in our lexicon.鈥� He wondered, why not just 鈥渉ard work鈥�? Or on the sports field, perhaps, 鈥渧aliant effort鈥�? With so many different yeomen out there to keep track of, I鈥檓 inclined to agree.聽