| 释义 |
hob·son's choice
\|häbsənz-\ noun
Usage: usually capitalized H
Etymology: after Thomas Hobson died 1631 English liveryman; from his practice of requiring every customer to take the horse which stood nearest the door
1. : an apparent freedom to take or reject something offered when in actual fact no such freedom exists : an apparent freedom of choice where there is no real alternative:
a. : the forced acceptance of something whether one likes it or not (as in a so-called free election where only one candidate is proposed)
b.
(1) : the necessity of accepting something objectionable through the fact that one would otherwise get nothing at all (as an underpaid job rather than no job at all)
(2) : the necessity of accepting one of two or more equally objectionable things (as enslavement or annihilation by a conquered people)
2. : something that one must accept through want of any real alternative : the object of a Hobson's choice
< military unity … is … a Hobson's choice which all accept — V.D.Hurd > |