hobby horse

See also: hobbyhorse and hobby-horse

English

A child with a hobby horse (noun sense 2).

A man with a hobby horse (noun sense 4).

A dandy or hobby horse (noun sense 5).

Alternative forms

• hobbyhorse, hobby-horse

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General American):

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Noun

hobby horse (plural hobby horses)

2. (originally) The Irish Hobby, an extinct breed of horse.
4. A child's toy consisting of a (usually wooden or cloth) horse's head mounted on a stick.
6. (figuratively) A topic that elicits a prolonged and enthusiastic discussion from an individual.

   Don't ask him about global warming: it's his favourite hobby horse, you'll never get away.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 250:

     The squire was now on his hobby-horse, as we say; he had placed the old worn fur cap by his side on the sofa, leaving his bald head and grey hairs exposed.

8. A puppetlike costume used in some traditional dances and festivals that gives its wearer the appearance of a man on horseback.
10. (cycling, historical) An early bicycle with no pedals or brakes.

    Synonyms: dandy horse, draisienne

    • 2015, Chris Boardman, The Biography of the Modern Bike: The Ultimate History of Bike Design, Hachette, →ISBN, page 10:

      British users rechristened the baron's invention the hobby horse then the dandy horse, because draisines became very fashionable with Regency gentlemen.

Derived terms

• hobby-horsey
• hobbyhorsical
• 'Obby 'Oss

Translations

child's toy

• Afrikaans: stokperdjie
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 竹馬 / 竹马 (zh) (zhúmǎ)

• Danish: kæphest (da) c
• Dutch: stokpaard (nl) n, stokpaardje (nl) n
• Finnish: keppihevonen (fi)
• French: dada (fr) m, cheval bâton m, cheval chaussette m
• Galician: cabaliño de xoguete m
• German: Steckenpferd (de) n
• Hungarian: vesszőparipa (hu) sg
• Italian: cavalluccio di legno m
• Macedonian: коњче n (konjče)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjepphest (no) m

• Portuguese: cavalo de pau (pt) m
• Russian: конёк (ru) m (konjók)
• Spanish: caballito de palo m, caballito (es) m
• Swedish: käpphäst (sv) c
• Turkish: oyuncak at

topic about which someone loves to talk

• Afrikaans: stokperdjie
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: kæphest (da) c
• Dutch: stokpaardje (nl) n
• Finnish: lempiaihe, keppihevonen (fi)
• French: dada (fr) m, violon d'Ingres (fr) m
• German: Steckenpferd (de) n
• Hungarian: vesszőparipa (hu)
• Italian: cavallo di battaglia (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjepphest (no) m

• Polish: konik (pl) m
• Russian: конёк (ru) m (konjók)
• Spanish: monotema m, caballito de batalla m, caballo de batalla m, caballo batalloso m
• Swedish: käpphäst (sv) c

puppet-like costume

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• French: cheval-jupon (fr) m, masque-cheval m

early bicycle

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: draisine f
• French: draisienne (fr) f

Verb

hobby horse (third-person singular simple present hobby horses, present participle hobby horsing, simple past and past participle hobby horsed)

1. (nautical, intransitive) To pitch back and forth.

See also

• rocking horse