To have something both ways, to have something in possession and be able to exploit or use it

Etymology:

  • This phrase originated in the 16th century. If you have a cake and you have eaten your piece, then you are left with a choice either to eat it more or save or keep it. In the same way, the spent money is the one, which is no longer in your possession, all you care would be the rest of money you have. The expression actually began as “you can’t eat your cake and have it too”.
118 Views

I want to earn for my family and myself that will let me have my cake and eat it too.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Translation

Find a translation for the Have Your Cake and Eat It Too phrase in other languages:

toma tu pastel y cómelo también

készítsd el a tortád és engedd is

ambil kuenya dan makan juga

あなたのケーキを持って、それも食べてください

האָבן דיין שטיקל און עסן עס אויך

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Have Your Cake and Eat It Too phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Have Your Cake and Eat It Too definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Have Your Cake and Eat It Too." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too_44743>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    What's that got to do with the _________ of tea in China?
    A amount
    B price
    C quantity
    D consumption