There’s [ed note: up until it closed in 2024] a lovely rum & punch bar in Haight-Ashbury with the name Hobson’s Choice, but the slogan on their sign (“Order what you like, as long as it’s what I offer”) doesn’t quite go far enough. Hobson’s Choice is,
“Take it or leave it.”
Specifically, it is a choice between one thing which may be undesirable and not having that thing, contrasting that thing with other things of similar ilk or utility — some may be more desirable, but none other are available to the situation.
Thomas Hobson was a stable operator in Cambridge in the 16th and 17th centuries. Having some 40 horses in his stable available to the public, it was not in the best interest of the stable overall to let customers have their choice of horse, since the best ones would be more frequently used and become overexerted. To prevent this, Hobson gave customers only the option of the horse in the stall nearest the door, ensuring an even rotation of horses.