[00:00.10]Now, the VOA
[00:12.48]Special English program
[00:14.52]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
[00:16.71]Making choices is necessary,
[00:20.75]but not always easy.
[00:22.96]Many of our expressions
[00:25.64]tell about this difficulty.
[00:28.43]One of these expressions
[00:30.88]is Hobson's choice.
[00:33.11]It often is used to
[00:35.97]describe a difficult choice.
[00:38.51]But that is not
[00:40.60]what it really means.
[00:42.89]Its real meaning is
[00:45.85]to have no choice at all.
[00:48.18]The Hobson in the expression
[00:51.93]was Thomas Hobson.
[00:54.02]Mister Hobson owned
[00:56.35]a stable of horses
[00:57.65]in Cambridge, England.
[01:00.04]Mister Hobson often
[01:02.99]rented horses to the students
[01:04.99]at Cambridge University.
[01:07.68]But, he did not really trust them
[01:11.21]to take good care of the horses.
[01:14.35]So, he had a rule
[01:17.68]that prevented the students
[01:19.17]from riding his best horses.
[01:22.32]They could take the horse
[01:24.36]that was nearest the stable door.
[01:27.33]Or, they could not
[01:29.59]take any horse at all.
[01:31.92]Thus, a Hobson's choice
[01:34.81]was really no choice.
[01:37.31]Another expression
[01:40.48]for having no real choice
[01:42.68]is between a rock and a hard place.
[01:46.82]It is often used to describe
[01:50.41]a difficult situation
[01:52.11]with few choices,
[01:54.40]none of them good.
[01:56.29]For example, your boss may
[02:00.02]ask you to work late.
[02:01.53]But you have plans to go to
[02:04.47]a movie with your friends.
[02:06.31]If you refuse to work,
[02:09.06]your boss gets angry.
[02:11.20]But if you do not go to the movies
[02:14.59]with your friends,
[02:15.78]they may get angry.
[02:17.93]So what do you do?
[02:20.65]You are caught between
[02:22.95]a rock and a hard place.
[02:25.86]Another expression,
[02:28.29]between the devil
[02:30.24]and the deep blue sea,
[02:32.44]also gives you a choice
[02:34.33]between two equally dangerous things.
[02:38.06]Its meaning seems clear.
[02:41.11]You can choose the devil
[02:43.26]and his burning fires of hell.
[02:45.99]Or, you can choose
[02:48.53]to drown in the sea.
[02:50.43]Some word experts say
[02:54.22]the expression comes from
[02:56.16]the days of wooden ships.
[02:58.34]The devil is a word for a seam
[03:03.32]between two pieces of wood
[03:05.56]along the water-line of a ship.
[03:08.65]If the seam or crack between
[03:12.48]the two pieces of wood
[03:13.93]begins to leak,
[03:15.03]then a sailor must fix it.
[03:18.22]The sailor ordered to make
[03:21.41]the repairs was
[03:23.17]in a dangerous situation.
[03:25.36]He was hanging over the side
[03:28.01]of the ship, working
[03:29.32]between the devil
[03:31.62]and the deep blue sea.
[03:34.01]There is still another expression
[03:37.99]that describes a situation
[03:40.58]with only bad choices,
[03:43.13]being on the horns of a dilemma.
[03:46.41]The dictionary says
[03:49.70]a dilemma is a situation
[03:52.64]in which you must make a decision
[03:55.62]about two equally balanced choices.
[03:59.66]When your dilemma has horns,
[04:02.96]a choice becomes impossible.
[04:05.99]When you are on the horns
[04:09.28]of a dilemma, no matter
[04:11.61]which horn you choose,
[04:13.27]something bad will happen.
[04:16.26](MUSIC)
[04:26.73]This VOA Special English program,
[04:30.21]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES,
[04:32.21]was written by Marilyn Christiano.
[04:34.75]I'm Christopher Cruise.