Hobson's choice (original) (raw)

In colloquial English, Hobson's choice is an only apparently free choice that is no choice at all.

The first written reference to the source of the phrase is in Joseph Addison's paper, The Spectator (14 October 1712). It also appears in Thomas Ward's poem England's Reformation written in 1688, but not published until after his death. Ward writes,

Where to elect there is but one, 'tis Hobson's choice -- take that or none.

The phrase originates from Thomas Hobson (1544-1630), who lived in Cambridge, England. Hobson was a stable manager who rented out horses to undergraduate students. After students began requesting for particular horses again and again, Hobson realized certain horses were being overworked. He decided to go in for a rotation system placing the well-rested horses near the stable door, and refused to let out any horse except in its proper turn. He insisted that customers take the horse in the stall closest to the door or take none at all.

Hobson's choice is different from Catch-22 where both (or all) choices available contradict each other.

Hobson's Choice is a play based on the same concept. In this case a father (named Hobson) is presented with a Hobson's Choice in his relationship with his estranged daughter. He winds up both loving her and giving her a dowry when he wanted neither.

Henry Ford sold the Ford Model T with the famous Hobson's choice of "Any color so long as it's black"[1].

Hobson's Choice in a 2-party system

Some people say that voting in a 2-party system, like that in the USA, is a Hobson's choice. The two candidates typically have far more similarities than dissimilarities. In fact, the 2-party system gives the candidates an incentive to be as similar as possible, to capture all possible voters that may be inbetween them.

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