# What is a "Journeyman" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719 "2000-08-09T17:08:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/1 "2000-08-09T17:08:23Z")
If someone is a “journeymen”, then what does their job entail? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/2 "2000-08-09T17:14:05Z")
According to the dictionary… > [@](#): > > Main Entry: jour·ney·man > Pronunciation: -m&n > Function: noun > Etymology: Middle English, from journey journey, a day’s labor + man > Date: 15th century > 1 : a worker who has learned a trade and works for another person usually by the day > 2 : an experienced reliable worker or performer especially as distinguished from one who is brilliant or colorful \ \ ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/3 "2000-08-09T17:42:22Z")
Crap, Matt beat me to it. A journeyman typically also refers to someone in a blue collar type of labour job that requires a fair amount of skills (ie a plumber or an electrician) who has finished his apprenticeship (or formal teaching depending on the area) and is now a working professional. The only caveat to what Mattk said is that it typically involves blue collar labour. HUGS! Sqrl ---
**Author:** ![Landsknecht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@Landsknecht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landsknecht)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/4 "2000-08-09T17:45:43Z")
The use of journeyman goes back to the good old days, when trades were becoming more formalized as cities grew. Basically, you were apprenticed to a master of the guild, be it carpentry, or masonry, or whatever. Once you’ve apprenticed for enough time and your master is satisfied you know what you’re doing, you become a journeyman carpenter or mason, or whatever. I’m sure the process was a bit more complex then that, but that’s the basics. As a journeyman, you could be employed in your trade, but I’m not sure if you were allowed to open up your own shop or otherwise go into business for yourself. Modern trades, such as electricians and plumbers use a similar system of apprenticeship, but I’m sure there’s differences. ---
**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/5 "2000-08-09T17:53:54Z")
I thought it was someone who’s a fan of 70s/80s rock bands. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/6 "2000-08-10T04:46:34Z")
In theory, of course, a would-be carpenter or mason or smith or whatever was only SUPPOSED to be a journeyman for a few years, until he’d acquired the skills to become a master craftsman. If a man REMAINED a journeyman for too long, the general impression was that, while he might find enough work to make a living, he’d never amount to anything. That’s why you hear the expression “journeyman” tossed around a lot in sports. A “Journeyman” ballplayer might be someone like Kurt Bevacqua, who played for many many years in the major leagues, but never became a full-time starter, let alone a star. In common usage, a journeyman is a mediocre performer who manages to stay active in his trade for a long time, without ever achieving greatness. ---
**Author:** ![Or\_n\_ry\_Oscar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Or\_n\_ry\_Oscar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Or_n_ry_Oscar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/7 "2000-08-10T05:34:10Z")
A journeyman is usually associated with the building trades, but it might be any skilled worker. The period that one spent as a journeyman would be after the apprenticeship was completed and before one became a master (and was, therefore, allowed to open up one’s own shop). Another way of looking at it is that the journeyman was one who was skilled at a trade (had completed the apprenticeship), but had not practiced it long enough to take apprentices of his (and on very rare occasions, her) own. Until the journeyman had satisfied the masters of a particular locale (usually a town) that their skills were adequate and necessary (and a tradesman from another city could not just come into town and set up shop), he would not be named a master. Until he was named a master, he could not take apprentices, and it was in the taking of apprentices, in the teaching of the particular skill to the next generation, that many skilled craftsmen made much of their money. But construction jobs still required those knowlegeable in the trade. Many jobs were given to travelling tradesmen, hence journeymen. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-journeyman/28719/8 "2000-08-10T14:08:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*These men are all that remains of the Empire of the Cath Bruig. Formerly the guards of the Emperor, they disbanded and wandered the earth in self-imposed exile after the Fallen destroyed Muirthemne and everyone in it. In a further show of penance, they developed the ability to heal other people, though they are by nature loners and do not actively seek out company. To heal a unit select the journeyman, press the special action key (T), then select the injured unit. > > Journeymen can also heal undead units (like thrall and wights), dispelling the dark magic that animates them. > > When pressed into battle, Journeymen swing the shovel of a common laborer. Some say they still have the remarkable ability of Heron Guards in combat, but the Journeymen themselves seem to have thrown off every vestige of their once glorious past. > > -Journeyman Description, Cast of Characters, Myth II Manual \*\* Sorry. I’ve been playing a lot of Myth II: Soulblighter lately.