hobnob

hob·nob  (hbnb)

intr.v. hob·nobbed, hob·nob·bing, hob·nobs

To associate familiarly: hobnobs with the executives.

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[From the phrase (drink) hob or nob, (toast) one another alternately, from obsolete and dialectal hab nab, have or have not : probably Middle English habbe, have; see have + Middle English nabbe (contraction of ne habbe, have not : Old English ne, not; see not + habbe, have).]

Word History: Hobnobbing with our social betters can be a hit-or-miss proposition, a fact that has an etymological justification. The verb hobnob originally meant "to drink together" and occurred as a varying phrase, hob or nob, hob-a-nob, or hob and nob, the first of which is recorded in 1763. This phrasal form reflects the origins of the verb in similar phrases that were used when two people toasted each other. The phrases were probably so used because hob is a variant of hab and nob of nab, which are probably forms of have and its negative. In Middle English, for example, one finds the forms habbe, "to have," and nabbe, "not to have." Hab or nab, or simply hab nab, thus meant "get or lose, hit or miss," and the variant hob-nob also meant "hit or miss." Used in the drinking phrase, hob or nob probably meant "give or take"; from a drinking situation hob nob spread to other forms of chumminess.

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hobnob [ˈhɒbˌnɒb]

vb -nobs, -nobbing, -nobbed (intr; often foll by with)

1. to socialize or talk informally

2. Obsolete to drink (with)

[from hob or nob to drink to one another in turns, hence, to be familiar, ultimately from Old English habban to have + nabban not to have]

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

hobnob - rub elbows with; "He hobnobs with the best of society" socialise, socialize - take part in social activities; interact with others; "He never socializes with his colleagues"; "The old man hates to socialize"

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hobnob

verb socialize, mix, associate, hang out (informal), mingle, consort, hang about, keep company, fraternize an opportunity to hobnob with the company's president

Translations

hobnob [ˈhɒbnɒb] VI to hobnob with → codearse con, alternar con

hobnob [ˈhɒbnɒb] vi
to hobnob with sb → frayer avec qn, fréquenter qn

hobnob

vi of course I’m not used to hobnobbing with the aristocracy → ich stehe or bin natürlich nicht mit dem Adel auf Du und Du; she’s been seen hobnobbing with the chairman and his wife → sie ist viel mit dem Vorsitzenden und seiner Frau zusammen gesehen worden; who was that you were hobnobbing with last night? → mit wem hast du da gestern zusammengesessen?

hobnob [ˈhɒbˌnɒb] vi (fam) to hobnob (with) → essere in confidenza (con)