Hobson's choice

English

Etymology

Named after Thomas Hobson (1544–1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and had an extensive stable, but required each customer to take the horse in the stall closest to the door, to prevent the best horses from always being chosen and becoming overused.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

Hobson's choice (plural Hobson's choices)

  1. A situation where an individual is presented with the illusion of a free choice, but in reality, there is only one option available: accepting the offer or having nothing at all.
    • 1847, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 23, in The Crater:
      When Hobson's choice is placed before one, deliberation is of no great use.
    • 1887, George Bernard Shaw, chapter 5, in An Unsocial Socialist:
      In other words, they might go to the devil and starve—Hobson's choice!—for all the other factories were owned by men who offered no better terms.
    • 2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN:
      This Hobson’s choice is the beating heart of “Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life.” Any writer might wonder what he’d do in such a case.
    • 2011 January 13, Lawrence Wright, “Lebanon’s Tragic Hero”, in The New Yorker‎[2], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 June 2023:
      Such Hobson's choices are the stuff of high drama, but unfortunately for poor, lovely Lebanon it is a tragedy that never seems to end.
    • 2022, Stephen King, chapter 8, in Fairy Tale, page 132:
      "Hobson's Choice." He was still stroking Radar, long glides of his hand from nape to tail. "In the end, it seems to me that one or two good months are better than six bad ones. If it works at all, that is."
  2. (Cockney rhyming slang) The voice.
    Synonym: (ellipsis) Hobson's

See also

References

Further reading

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