Raving rabbit wrote:
Tom McDonald wrote:
Raving rabbit wrote:
Sir David wrote:
On Dec 3, 12:59 pm, crunch wrote:
Global warming flush
Carl rides his hobbyhorse
What hobby horse? (reference was lost in translation).

Q
It's an English word meaning a topic to which someone constantly
returns, as though it were an obsession or compulsion.

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

hobbyhorse

Main Entry: hob·by·horse
Pronunciation: \ˈhä-bē-ˌhȯrs\
Function: noun
Etymology: hobby small light horse, from Middle English hoby,
hobyn, perhaps from Hobbin, nickname for Robert or Robin
Date: circa 1553

1 a : a figure of a horse fastened about the waist in the morris
dance b : a dancer wearing this figure
2 obsolete : buffoon
3 a : a stick having an imitation horse's head at one end that a
child pretends to ride b : rocking horse c : a toy horse
suspended by springs from a frame
4 a : a topic to which one constantly reverts

The usage here is 4a, "*a topic to which one constantly
reverts*". IOW, a topic that one seems fixated upon.

David has a small set of 'topics to which [he] constantly
reverts. One of them is climate, on his belief that he is a
meteorologist just because he took a class or two sometime, and
he likes weather.

Hope that helps.

I already knew this, I just wanted to know specifically what hobby horse
Carl was riding on.

Ah. Sorry. Misread your need.

It's global climate change. This time.

It was fun, though, digging up the etymology; one of my minor
hobbyhorses.

I always get a kick out of being reminded that Robin, Hoby and
Hobbin are nicknames for Robert. Somehow, Hoby the Bruce doesn't
strike as much fear into the Sassenach's heart, or pride in the
Scot's, as Robert the Bruce. Just sayin.

--
Tom

When Tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing;
When friends rejoice, both far and near,
How can I keep from singing.