Did You Know?

Hob and nob first came together in print in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, when Sir Toby Belch warns Viola (who is disguised as a man) that Sir Andrew wants to duel. “Hob, nob is his word,” says Sir Toby, using hob and nob to mean something like “hit or miss.” Sir Toby’s words are probably from the term habnab (also styled as a phrase: hab or nab), which meant “in one way or another” or “however it may turn out.” After Shakespeare’s day, hob and nobbecame established in the phrase to drink hobnob (also styled asto drink hob or nob), which meant “to drink alternately to each other.” Since “drinking hobnob” was generally done among friends, hobnob came to refer to congenial social interaction.