hobby horse vs passion

hobby horse

noun
  • A topic about which someone loves to talk at great length. 

  • A child's toy consisting of a (usually wooden or cloth) horse's head mounted on a stick. 

  • The Irish hobby, an extinct breed of horse. 

  • A puppet-like costume used in some traditional dances and festivals that gives its wearer the appearance of a man on horseback. 

  • An early bicycle with no pedals or brakes; a draisienne. 

passion

noun
  • An object of passionate or romantic love or strong romantic interest. 

  • Fervor, determination. 

  • A display, musical composition, or play meant to commemorate the suffering of Jesus. 

  • The suffering of Jesus leading up to and during his crucifixion. 

  • Any great, strong, powerful emotion, especially romantic love or extreme hate. 

  • A true desire sustained or prolonged. 

  • Sexual intercourse, especially when very emotional. 

verb
  • To give a passionate character to. 

How often have the words hobby horse and passion occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )