Hobson’s Choice: the original one-horse option
Hobson's choice is a supposedly free choice in which actually only one thing is offered, based on the behaviour of a sixteenth-century stable owner in Cambridge. Because a person may refuse to accept what is offered, the two options are taking it or taking nothing. In other words - "take it or leave it".
The phrase is said to have originated with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, who had about 40 horses. This gave the appearance to his customers that, upon entry, they would have their choice of mounts. In fact, there was only one: Hobson required his customers to choose the horse in the stall closest to the door. This was to prevent the best horses from always being chosen, which would have caused those horses to become overused. Hobson's stable was located on land that is now owned by St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
The most celebrated application of Hobson's choice in the 20th century was arguably Henry Ford's offer of the Model-T Ford in 'any colour you like, so long as it's black'. The concept of a limited choice is also developed elsewhere in literature and linguistics as a challenging conundrum with other formulations being 'between a rock and a hard place' and 'between the devil and the deep blue sea'.
Further reading
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