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Hobson's choice
(redirected from Hobson)

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
Hobson's choice
the choice between taking what is offered and getting nothing at all. (From the name of a stable owner in the seventeenth century who always hired out the horse nearest the door.) We didn't really want that particular hotel, but it was a case of Hobson's choice. We booked very late and there was nothing else left. If you want a yellow car, it's Hobson's choice. The garage has only one.
See also: choice

Hobson's choice
a situation in which it seems that you can choose between different things or actions, but there is really only one thing that you can take or do
Usage notes: Thomas Hobson was a man who kept horses and did not give people a choice about which horse they could have.
It's Hobson's choice, because if I don't agree to do what they want, I'll lose my job.
See also: choice


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