hobby horse vs talk

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. 

talk

noun
  • A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal. 

  • A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child. 

  • Empty boasting, promises or claims. 

  • A lecture. 

  • A major topic of social discussion. 

  • Meeting to discuss a particular matter. 

  • A customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it. 

  • Gossip; rumour. 

verb
  • To discuss; to talk about. 

  • To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner. 

  • To communicate, usually by means of speech. 

  • To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself. 

  • To gossip; to create scandal. 

  • Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned. 

  • To speak (a certain language). 

  • To confess, especially implicating others. 

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