Meaning:
Necessity compels. In current usage this phrase is usually used to express
something that is done unwillingly but with an acceptance that it can't be
avoided; for example, I really don't want to cook tonight, but needs must, I
suppose.
Background:
The phrase is old. In earlier texts it is almost always given in its fuller
form - needs must when the devil drives. that is, if the devil is driving
you, you have no choice. This dates back to Early Modern English texts, for
example Assembly of Gods, circa 1500:
"He must nedys go that the deuell dryues."
Shakespeare used the phrase several times; for example, in All's Well That
Ends Well, 1601:
Countess: Tell me thy reason why thou wilt marry.
Clown: My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and
he must needs go that the devil drives.
The phrase became pared down to needs must during the 20th century and, even
in that short form, it is rather archaic-sounding and is fading from popular
use. This despite a high-profile appearance on TV in Blackadder II, 1985:
"Needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle."
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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As "necessity is the mother of invention," Satan must be holding the strings
behind all the modern contraptions and he seems very good at sowing discontent
and turning wants into needs.
One example is the Asian squat which used to be part of the daily number two.
Just a few years living in America, I lost it. Now I need both the sitting
toilet (no choice really) and an extra 10 minutes a day stretching to get the
squat back.
