古英語のhabban, nabbanのhob and nob, a toast, you a cup and I a cup, have, not haveに対応するフレーズから略された。派生した語彙的意味は、親しくする、お世辞を言う。willy-nillyと比較。
英語の語源
hobnob
hobnob: [18] In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch says ‘Hob, nob, is his word: give’t or take’t’; from which it has been deduced that the hob of hobnob represents have and that the nob represents the now obsolete nave ‘not have’ (formed in the Old English period by adding the negative particle ne to have). In Middle English these would have been habbe and nabbe.
When hobnob first appears as a verb, in the mid 18th century, it means ‘drink together’ – perhaps from the notion of buying alternate rounds of drinks, or drinking toasts to each other in turn. The modern sense ‘associate familiarly, socialize’ is not recorded before the early 19th century. => have
hobnob (v.)
1763, "to drink to each other," from hob and nob (1756) "to toast each other by turns, to buy alternate rounds of drinks," from c. 1550 hab nab "to have or have not, hit or miss," probably ultimately from Old English habban, nabban "have, not have," with the negative particle ne- attached, as was customary. Modern sense of "socialize" is 1866. Related: Hobnobbed; hobnobbing.
例文
1. This gave Bill an opportunity to hobnob with the company 'spresident，board chairman，and leading executives.
これにより、ビルは会社の社長、理事長、および主要なエグゼクティブたちと混同する機会が得られた。
2.He used to hobnob with the rich and famous.
彼は昔、金持ちで有名な人とよく付き合っていた。
3.In this period，also let many countries hobnob with others.