A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England. To rotate the use of his horses, he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all.
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Famous quotes containing the word choice:
“... given a choice between hearing my daughter say “I’m pregnant” or “I used a condom,” most mothers would get up in the middle of the night and buy them herself.”
—Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933)