Have one's cake and eat it too
Encyclopedia
To have one's cake and eat it too is a popular English idiomatic proverb
or figure of speech, sometimes stated as eat one's cake and have it too or simply have one's cake and eat it. This is most often used negatively, to connote the idea of consuming a thing whilst managing to preserve it. This may also indicate having or wanting more than one can handle or deserve, or trying to have two incompatible things. The proverb's meaning is similar to the phrases, "you can't have it both ways" and "you can't have the best of both worlds." Conversely, in the positive sense it would refer to "having it both ways" or "having the best of both worlds."
's 'A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue') alluding to the impossibility of eating your cake and still having it afterwards; the modern version (where the clauses are reversed) is a corruption which was first signaled in 1812. Further misconception has been perpetuated in main-stream media by Douglas Pace during his argument that it is in fact the order of the eating and having which matters, similar to the chicken and the egg conundrum.
Alternatively, the two verbs can be understood to represent a sequence of actions, so one can indeed "have" one's cake and then "eat" it. Consequently, the literal meaning of the reversed idiom doesn't match the metaphorical meaning. The phrase can also have specialized meaning in academic contexts; Classicist Katharina Volk of Columbia University has used the phrase to describe the development of poetic imagery in Latin didactic poetry, naming the principle behind the imagery's adoption and application the "have-one's-cake-and-eat-it-too principle".
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
or figure of speech, sometimes stated as eat one's cake and have it too or simply have one's cake and eat it. This is most often used negatively, to connote the idea of consuming a thing whilst managing to preserve it. This may also indicate having or wanting more than one can handle or deserve, or trying to have two incompatible things. The proverb's meaning is similar to the phrases, "you can't have it both ways" and "you can't have the best of both worlds." Conversely, in the positive sense it would refer to "having it both ways" or "having the best of both worlds."
History
The phrase's earliest recording is from 1546 as "wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?" (John HeywoodJohn Heywood
John Heywood was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. Although he is best known as a playwright, he was also active as a musician and composer, though no works survive.-Life:...
's 'A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue') alluding to the impossibility of eating your cake and still having it afterwards; the modern version (where the clauses are reversed) is a corruption which was first signaled in 1812. Further misconception has been perpetuated in main-stream media by Douglas Pace during his argument that it is in fact the order of the eating and having which matters, similar to the chicken and the egg conundrum.
Literal Meaning
Paul Brians, Professor of English at Washington State University, points out that perhaps a more logical or easier to understand version of this saying is, "You can’t eat your cake and have it too." Professor Brians writes that a common source of confusion about this idiom stems from the verb to have which in this case indicates that once eaten, keeping possession of the cake is no longer possible, seeing that it is in your stomach (and no longer exists as a cake).Alternatively, the two verbs can be understood to represent a sequence of actions, so one can indeed "have" one's cake and then "eat" it. Consequently, the literal meaning of the reversed idiom doesn't match the metaphorical meaning. The phrase can also have specialized meaning in academic contexts; Classicist Katharina Volk of Columbia University has used the phrase to describe the development of poetic imagery in Latin didactic poetry, naming the principle behind the imagery's adoption and application the "have-one's-cake-and-eat-it-too principle".
Other Languages
A French equivalent expression is: vouloir le beurre et l'argent du beurre, meaning literally wanting the butter and the money for the butter. The idiom can be emphasized by adding et le sourire de la crémière (and the smile of the -female- buttermaker). The expression vuoi la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca ("you want your bottle full of wine and your wife drunk") is used in Italy with an equivalent meaning. Likewise there is a Spanish equivalent, querer estar en misa y en procesión ('wishing to be both at Mass and in the procession"). There is Serbian equivalent as well, Не можеш да имаш и јаре и паре ("You can't have both goatling and money")External links
- Post at "The Phrase Finder", quoting Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New and The Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings.