hobby horse vs thing

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. 

thing

noun
  • That which matters; the crux. 

  • A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country. 

  • A unit or container, usually containing edible goods. 

  • A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor. 

  • Corporeal object. 

  • That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept. 

  • A romantic relationship. 

  • Alternate form of ting. 

  • One's typical routine, habits, or manner. (Used in possessive constructions.) 

  • Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent. 

  • A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief). 

  • An individual object or distinct entity. 

  • That which is favoured; personal preference. (Used in possessive constructions.) 

  • A living being or creature. 

  • A penis. 

  • Whatever can be owned. 

  • Girl; attractive woman. 

  • Clothes, possessions or equipment. 

  • A romantic couple. 

  • A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity. 

verb
  • To express as a thing; to reify. 

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