1812. Colman, Poetical Vagaries, p. 12 (2nd Ed.). When Master Daw full fourteen years had told, He grew, as it is term'd, hobbedyhoyish; For Cupidons and Fairies much too old, For Calibans and Devils much too boyish.
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots, Apr. From boyhood until hobbadyhoyhood (which I take to be about the sixteenth year of the life of a young man).
1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xlii. A half-grown, or hobbade-*hoyish footman, so to speak, walked after them.
Hobbledejee, subs. (old).—A pace
between a walk and a run; a
jog-trot.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Hobbler, subs. (nautical).—A
coast-man, half smuggler, half
handyman; an unlicensed pilot.
Also a landsman acting as tow-Jack.—Smyth.
Also (Isle of
Man), a boatman.
1887. T. E. Brown, The Doctor, p. 226. An' the hobblers there was terr'ble divarted.
Hobby, subs. (old).—A hackney;
a horse in common use.
1606. Return from Parnassus, ii., 6 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 151). An't please you, your hobby will meet you at the lane's end. Idem (p. 154). Is not my master an absolute villain that loves his hawk, his hobby, and his greyhound more than any mortal creature? Idem (p. 145). Sirrah, boy, hath the groom saddled my hunting hobby?
2. (university).—A translation. To ride hobbies = to use Cribs (q.v.).
Sir Posthumous Hobby, subs. phr. (old).—One nice or whimsical in his clothes.
Hobby-horse, subs. (old: now
recognised).—1. A whim; a
fancy; a favourite pursuit. Hence
Hobbyhorsical = strongly
attached to a particular fad.
1759. Sterne, Tristam Shandy (1793), ch. vii., p. 18. Have they not had their hobby-horses?
d. 1768. Sterne, Letters (1793), letter 19, p. 65. 'Tis in fact my hobby-horse.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hobby Horse, a man's favourite amusement, or study, is called his hobby horse.
1893. Westminster Gaz., 15 Mar., p. 9, c. 1. We quarrel a bit—he is so hobby-horsical, you can't avoid it—and then we make friends again.
2. (colloquial).—A rantipole girl; a wench; a wanton.
1594. Shakspeare, Love's Labour Lost, iii., 1. Call'st thou my love hobby-horse? Moth. No, master; the hobby-horse is but a colt, and your love, perhaps a hackney.
1604. Shakspeare, Winter's Tale, 1., 2. They say my wife's a hobby-horse.
3. (old).—A witless and unmannerly lout.
1609. Jonson, Epicœne, iv., 2. Daw. Here be in presence have tasted of her favors. Cler. What a neighing hobby-horse is this!
Verb (old).—To romp.
Hob-collingwood, subs. phr.
(North Country).—The four of
hearts, considered an unlucky
card.
Hob-jobber, subs. (streets).—A
man or boy on the look out for
small jobs—holding horses, carrying
parcels, and the like.
Hob-nail, subs. (old).—A countryman.
For synonyms, see Joskin.
