Henry Horatio Hobson
Search results
The phrase is said to have originated with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England, who offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in his stall nearest to the door or taking none at all.
The meaning of HOBSON'S CHOICE is an apparently free choice when there is no real alternative. How to use Hobson's choice in a sentence. Did you know?
‘Hobson’s choice’ is no real choice at all. When the only options are either accept what is offered or refuse it, we have ‘Hobson’s choice’. The expression is effectively the same as ‘take it or leave it’.
Hobson's choice definition: 1. a situation in which it seems that you can choose between different things or actions, but there…. Learn more.
Aug 28, 2014 · the choice is between taking what is being offered to you or getting nothing at all; an obviously free choice that actually offers no other alternative; Example Sentences. This is the dirtiest hotel that I have ever slept in! It is this room or out on the street, it’s Hobson’s choice. If you want to wear a red dress to the dance it’s ...
the choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all, in reality no choice at all: It’s Hobson’s choice really, as this is the only room they have empty at the moment. This expression refers to a 17th-century Cambridge man, Tobias Hobson, who hired out horses; he would give his customers the ‘choice’ of the horse nearest the stable ...
A Hobson's choice is something that appears to be a free choice, but is really no choice as there is no genuine alternative.
