hobnob(verb)"to have or not have"; to mingle or associate casually

These two rhyming syllables first came together in Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night. Sir Toby Belch warns Viola, disguised as a male, that the foolish Sir Andrew Aguecheek seeks a duel. "Hob, nob, is his word," Sir Toby tells her; "give’t or take’t" (III.iv.240).
Shakespeare uses these terms together only once. They appear to be derived from the older hab nab, a phrase with the sense of "have or not have, however it may turn out." After Shakespeare’s initial use, hob and nob eventually became established in the expression "to drink hob or nob" or simply "to drink hobnob," which was used to mean "to drink alternately to each other." From such associations it’s easy to see how hobnob (in various forms) came to acquire strong connotations of close friendship or intimate fellowship, as when William Makepeace Thackeray used an adjectival variation in 1859: "I might be hob-and-nob with you now in your dungeon."

By 1763, hobnob was established in use as a verb meaning "to drink together," and by the 1820s, it gained the modern sense of "to be familiar with." Nowadays the term is most often seen in a phrase like "hobnobbing with high society," denoting a form of activity which, despite the Shakespearian origins of hobnob, has nothing to do with fighting duels.

Hobnob a biscuit by Mcvites mmmmmmmm nice

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

Janney
I couldn't have said it better except that i was thinking more about milk chocolate ones - extra hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!! I'm mad for 'em !

Oh Yes! Oh Yes! Oh Yes.........
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I had forgotten about them!
Dunked..mmmmmmmmm.
:
Don't forget the hobnobs next visit to the supermarket

Sorry Gillyharold

You are trying to raise our awareness about English and we Brits are sabotaging your post, but in the UK, when you say 'Hob Nob' we think georgously yummy and scrumpilicious biscuits - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!

You are really going to confuse the issue by talking about biscuits, they call them cookies! I am not sure if it is the same all over the States but certainly in Georgia if you talk about biscuits they think you mean scones from what I saw on offer.

Biscuites v Cookies
Only one thing to say to our friend over the water.

Two Countries seperated by a common language!
Said by Sir winston Churchill on the relationship between Great Britain and the USA.
Im not confused. I understand the difference. I'm worldly are you?

"Hob" was also another name for the devil, and is the basis for our "hobgoblin". tjoeb};>

Here in the UK, hob-nob would mean you were mixing with the upper class(hob-nobbing) because the word nob came from the word NOBILITY (class of people holding special rank)
Where hob came from I dont know because its a top area of a cooking stove.
In Collins dictionary Hob-nob is- "Drink together" or "Be familiar (with)".

tecwyn