Task 2: Define to what types of set expressions the following PhUs belong and what cultural information they indicate:
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PhUs
Description
Hobson’s choice
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leave it", wherein "leaving it" is strongly undesirable
The phrase is said to have originated with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England, who offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in his stall nearest to the door or taking none at all
Darby and Joan
: a happily married usually elderly couple
John Darby and his wife Joan were first mentioned in print in a poem published in The Gentleman's Magazine by Henry Woodfall in 1735
A prodigal son
a man or boy who has left his family in order to do something that the family disapprove of and has now returned home feeling sorry for what he has done:
The story of the prodigal son is a picture of God's love for us as His children. God's love for us does not depend on our faithfulness; it is unconditional. He loved us while we were still sinners. Though we are demanding and do not remain faithful, God is still our faithful and loving Father
Nosey Parker
a person who is too interested in what other people are doing
Matthew Parker, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 to 1575, was believed to be the origin of this phrase. Because he made lots of unusual investigation of other clergies’ activities, and probably with his notable nose, he became famous with the nickname “nosey Parker”.
To be a doubting Thomas
an incredulous or habitually doubtful person.
A doubting Thomas is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience — a reference to the Gospel of John's depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who, in John's account, refused to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles until he could see and feel Jesus' crucifixion wounds.
