| 词汇 | hobson-s choice |
| 词源 | Hobson’s choice. This expression has lasted for over three centuries, even though it derived from the name of an obscure English carrier and innkeeper, Tobias or Thomas Hobson. For some 50 years Hobson drove his stage 60 miles from Cam- bridge to London, often at breakneck speeds, and kept some 40 horses on the side to rent to students at Cambridge University. Hobson, a humane man who realized that “the scholars rid hard,” put his mounts on a strict rotation basis so that the best and most often chosen horses would not be ruined. When you rented a horse from Hobson, you rented the horse nearest the livery stable door, the one best rested, no matter what your preference or how many horses were available. Hence, Hobson’s choice is no choice at all. |
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