service = 'benefit afforded by animal activity'; synchronicity = 'conjunction; intertwining'

[Garson O'Toole]

 Jonathan Lighter wote
> I suppose the exx. are theoretically identical, but today's plurality
> of number, the collocation with "provide" and the construction "X services"
> conveys a very different image, at least to me/
>
> Also, the 1919 quote has a literary flavor that the young lady's remarks did
> not. My impression was that she and her colleagues talk about "providing
> services" all the time.

Yes, I did not mean to equate the examples. The 1919 instance is
figurative, and the phrases "messenger boys" and "pay insects" are
part of an extended metaphor positing commercial relationships between
organisms within nature. The modern usage may have evolved from this
type of earlier symbolism.

The CNN example is distinguishable because it is non-metaphorical in my opinion.
Garson

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