Have The Cake And Eat It Too Meaning

English idiomatic proverb

You tin't have your cake and eat it (too) is a popular English idiomatic proverb or effigy of speech.^[1] The proverb literally means "you cannot simultaneously retain your cake and swallow it". In one case the cake is eaten, it is gone. It can be used to say that one cannot have ii incompatible things, or that i should not try to have more than is reasonable. The proverb'southward meaning is like to the phrases "you can't have information technology both ways" and "you can't have the best of both worlds."

For those unfamiliar with it, the proverb may sound disruptive due to the ambiguity of the word 'take', which tin mean 'proceed' or 'to take in one'south possession', but which can also be used every bit a synonym for 'consume' (e.yard. 'to have breakfast'). Some find the common form of the saying to be incorrect or illogical and instead prefer: "You lot can't swallow your cake and [and so still] have it (too)". Indeed, this used to be the most mutual course of the expression until the 1930s–1940s, when it was overtaken by the have-eat variant.^[2] Another, less mutual, version uses 'go along' instead of 'have'.^[3]

Choosing betwixt having or eating a block illustrates the concept of trade-offs or opportunity cost.^[four] ^[5] ^[6]

History and usage [edit]

An early recording of the phrase is in a letter on 14 March 1538 from Thomas, Knuckles of Norfolk, to Thomas Cromwell, as "a human tin can non take his cake and eat his cake".^[seven] The phrase occurs with the clauses reversed in John Heywood's A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Natural language from 1546, as "wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?".^[8] ^[9] In John Davies's Scourge of Folly of 1611, the aforementioned order is used, as "A homo cannot eat his cake and haue information technology stil."^[x]

In Jonathan Swift'due south 1738 farce "Polite Conversation", the character Lady Answerall says "she cannot swallow her block and have her cake".^[11] The social club was reversed in a posthumous adaptation of "Polite Conversation" in 1749 called "Tittle Tattle; or, Taste A-la-Mode", equally "And she cannot have her Cake and eat her Cake".^[12] ^[13] ^[14] A modern-sounding variant from 1812, "We cannot have our block and eat it too", can be constitute in R. C. Knopf'south Document Transcriptions of the War of 1812 (1959).^[15]

According to Google Ngram Viewer, a search engine that charts the frequencies of phrases throughout the decades, the swallow-have order used to be the most common variant (at least in written class) before beingness surpassed past the accept-eat version in the 1930s and 40s.^[2]

In 1996, the eat-have variant played a function in the apprehension of the Unabomber, whose real name is Ted Kaczynski. In his manifesto, which the terrorist sent to newspapers in the wake of his bombings, Kaczynski advocated the undoing of the industrial revolution, writing: "Equally for the negative consequences of eliminating industrial society — well, yous can't consume your cake and have it besides." James R. Fitzgerald, an FBI forensic linguist, noted this (then) uncommon variant of the maxim and later discovered that Kaczynski had as well used information technology in a letter of the alphabet to his mother. This, among other clues, led to his identification and arrest.^[xvi] ^[17] ^[18]

In her 2002 volume, classicist Katharina Volk of Columbia University used the phrase to describe the development of poetic imagery in didactic Latin poetry, naming the principle behind the imagery's adoption and awarding the "have-one'southward-block-and-eat-it-too principle".^[19]

Logicality [edit]

The proverb, while commonly used, is at times questioned by people who feel the expression to be illogical or incorrect. Every bit comedian Billy Connolly in one case put it: "What expert is [having] a cake if y'all can't swallow information technology?"^[twenty] According to Paul Brians, Professor of English language at Washington State University, the confusion virtually the idiom stems from the verb to take, which tin can refer to possessing, but also to eating, e.g. "Let'southward accept breakfast" or "I'm having a sandwich". Brians argues that "You tin can't eat your cake and accept it likewise" is a more logical variant than "You can't have your cake and swallow it besides", because the verb-order of "eat-have" makes more sense: once you've eaten your cake, you don't accept it anymore.^[21]

Ben Zimmer, writing for the Language Log of the Academy of Pennsylvania, states that the interpretation of the two variants relies on the assumption of either sequentiality or simultaneity. If one believes the phrase to imply sequentiality, and then the "eat-accept" variant could be seen every bit a more logical form: you cannot swallow your cake and then (still) have information technology, but you actually can take your cake and then eat information technology. The former phrase would demonstrate an impossibility better, while the latter phrase is more of a statement of fact, arguably making it less suitable as an idiomatic proverb. However, if one believes the "and" conjoining the verbs to imply simultaneity of action rather than sequentiality of action, then both versions are usable every bit an idiom, considering "block-eating and block-having are mutually exclusive activities, regardless of the syntactic ordering", Zimmer writes.^[eighteen]

In response, Richard Mason disagreed with Zimmer'south assertion on the mutually exclusiveness of the two actions: "simultaneous cake-having and cake-eating are NOT mutually exclusive. On the opposite, generally I cannot consume something at whatever time when I do not have it. But I consume things when I have them all the fourth dimension. Only when the object is entirely consumed do I no longer take it (and at that time the eating is too terminated)." Therefore, Mason considers the "accept-eat" variant to exist "logically indefensible".^[22] Zimmer reacted to Stonemason by stating: "the 'having' function of the idiom seems to me to imply possession over a long period of time, rather than the transient block-having that occurs during block-eating". He concludes that it is ultimately not relevant to ponder over the logicality of crystallized, commonly used phrases. "Few people protest the expression head over heels to mean 'topsy-turvy,' despite the fact that its "literal" reading describes a normal, non-topsy-turvy bodily alignment".^[18]

Stan Carey, writing for the Macmillan Dictionary Blog, likens the "accept-consume" vs. "eat-have" question with the discussion over "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less", two phrases that are used to refer to the aforementioned matter however are construed differently, the former sounding casuistic because saying "I could care less" would mean that you actually do care to some caste. Carey writes that even though the "eat-have" course of the block-proverb might make more sense, "idioms practise not hinge on logic, and expecting them to brand literal sense is futile. But it tin be hard to ward off the instinctive wish that linguistic communication align better with common sense." Carey jokingly states that the cake-idiom actually does have its cake and eats it.^[23]

In other languages [edit]

Various expressions are used to convey like idioms in other languages:

Albanian: Të hysh në ujë e të mos lagesh. – To take a swim and not get wet.
Armenian: Գելը կուշտ, ոչխարները՝ տեղը: – Have the wolf full and the sheep in place. Երկու երնեկ մի տեղ չի լինում - Two good things do not happen together. Մի տոմսով երկու թատրոն - I ticket for two theatrical performances (This idiom is likewise used for a situation of an undesired scandalous effect of an activity). Գետը մտնես՝ չոր էլնես - Go into a river and stay dry. And a vulgar version: Համ բանը տեղը լինի, համ չբեր լինի: - Her to exist sexually active but sterile.
Azerbaijani: Nə yardan doyur, nə əldən qoyur. – One who neither agrees, nor disagrees. (literal translation: Neither loves their lover enough, nor lets them go.) ^[24]
Bulgarian: Не може и вълкът да е сит, и агнето цяло. – You tin can't have both the wolf fed, and the lamb intact. A more vulgar version is: Не може хем душата в рая, хем кура в гъза. – You can't have both the dick in the ass and the soul in heaven.^[25] This phrase is similar to the Romanian expression below.
Simplified Chinese: 鱼与熊掌，不可兼得。; traditional Chinese: 魚與熊掌，不可兼得。 – You tin can't have both the fish and the carry's paw. (Comport's paw is considered a delicacy in ancient China.)
Czech: Nejde sedět zadkem na dvou židlích – Yous can't sit on two chairs at the same time. Also, Vlk se nažral a koza zůstala celá. – The wolf ate and the goat remained whole.
Danish: Man kan ikke både blæse og have mel i munden – You cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth. Also, Human being kan ikke få både i pose og (i) sæk - You can't get both in bag and (in) sack.
Dutch: At that place is no verbal equivalent of this maxim in the Dutch language, but a similar phrase is Kiezen of delen – Cull or split up. Some other like saying is Van twee walletjes eten – "Eating from two banks [of the ditch]", a pejorative saying which means that someone joins two opposing parties and tries to benefit from the situation in a manipulative or opportunistic fashion.^[26] A less derogatory expression is De kool en de geit sparen – To salve both the cabbage and the caprine animal: attempting to satisfy conflicting demands of ii parties, while not trying to offend either.^[27] Another one is: Je kunt je geld maar één keer uitgeven – "You lot can spend your money merely one fourth dimension".
Finnish: Kakkuja ei voi sekä syödä että säästää. – Cakes can not exist both eaten and stored (at the same time).
French: Vouloir le beurre et l'argent du beurre – To want the butter and the money used to buy the butter. This saying tin can be emphasized by adding et le sourire de la crémière ("and a smile from the [female] milkmaid") or, in a more than familiar version, et le cul de la crémière ("and the [female person] milkmaid's butt").
High german: Wasch mir den Pelz, aber mach mich nicht nass – Wash my fur but don't get me wet.^[28] ^[29] Also, Man kann nicht auf zwei Hochzeiten tanzen – One cannot trip the light fantastic at ii weddings (at the same fourth dimension).^[xxx] ^[31]
- Swiss German: Du chasch nit dr Füfer und s Weggli ha – You lot can't have the five cent coin and a bread roll.
Greek: Και την πίτα ολόκληρη και τον σκύλο χορτάτο – You desire the entire pie and the dog full.
Gujarati: બે હાથમાં લાડુ હોવા – To have a laddu (a sweet candy) in both of your hands.
Hebrew: אי אפשר לאכול את העוגה ולהשאיר אותה שלמה – You can't eat the block and keep it whole. Also, אי אפשר להחזיק את המקל משני הקצוות – It is incommunicable to concord the stick from both ends.
Hindi: दोनों हाथ में लड्डू होना – To accept a laddu (a sweet candy) in both of your hands. Also, चित भी मेरी पट भी मेरी. – Heads are mine and tails are mine likewise.
Hungarian: Olyan nincs, hogy a kecske is jóllakjon, és a káposzta is megmaradjon – It is impossible to feed the caprine animal but keep the cabbage. As well, Egy fenékkel nem lehet két lovat megülni – You can't ride two horses with one behind. As well, Nem lehet egyszerre házaséletet is élni és szűznek is maradni. – You can't consummate the marriage nevertheless withal remain a virgin.
Icelandic: Það er ekki hægt að bæði halda og sleppa – You can't have and take not at the same fourth dimension. Too, Bágt er að blása og hafa mjöl í munni. – You lot cannot both blow and have flour in your oral cavity.
Italian: Volere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca – To want the barrel full (of wine) and the wife boozer.
Japanese: 二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず. – If yous chase 2 rabbits at the same fourth dimension, you will not take hold of either.
Kannada: ಅಕ್ಕಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಆಸೆ, ನೆಂಟರ ಮೇಲೆ ಪ್ರೀತಿ – Desire over rice, love over relatives.
Korean: 토끼 둘을 잡으려다가 하나도 못 잡는다. – If you lot endeavor to catch two rabbits, yous will end up getting none.
Malayalam: കക്ഷത്തിലുള്ളത് പോകാനും പാടില്ല ഉത്തരത്തിലുള്ളത് വേണം താനും! – Don't want to loose what'due south in the armpit only also want what's on the beam (or roof).
Nepali: दुवै हातमा लड्डु – To have a laddu (a sweet processed) in both of your hands.
Norwegian: Human kan ikke få både i pose og sekk – You tin't get both in bag and sack.
Papiamento: There is no equivalent of this proverb in Papiamento, but a similar phrase is: Skohe of lag'i skohe – Choose or let choose.
Pashto: Dawara ghaaray ma wahaa – You lot can not exist on both sides.
Persian: هم خدا را خواستن و هم خرما را – Wanting both God and the dates.
Polish: Zjeść ciastko i mieć ciastko – To eat the cookie and accept the cookie.
Portuguese: Querer ter sol na eira east chuva no nabal – Wanting the dominicus to smooth on the threshing floor, while it rains on the turnip field.
- Brazil: Assobiar e chupar cana - Wanting to whistle and suck on carbohydrate cane (at the same fourth dimension).
Romanaian: Nu poți împăca și capra și varza – You lot tin can't reconcile the goat and the cabbage. Also, Și cu tigaia unsă și cu slănina în pod – To have the pan greased and the lard in the attic. A more vulgar version is: Şi cu dânsa-intr-însa, şi cu sufletu-n rai – To have 'it' in 'it' and the soul in heaven.
Russian: И рыбку съесть, и в воду не лезть – Wanting to eat a fish without offset catching it from the waters. This is a euphemism for a common vulgar expression и рыбку съесть, и на хуй сесть – Wanting to both eat a fish and to sit on a dick. This phrase was first used by Alexander Pushkin in a private letter.
Serbo-Croation: Imati i jare i pare, Имати и јаре и паре – To take both lamb and money. Also, I ovce i novce, И овце и новце - Both the sheep and the coin. Too, I vuk sit i ovce na broju, И вук сит и овце на броју – The wolf is full, and the sheep are all accounted for.
Spanish: Querer estar en misa y en procesión – Wishing to exist both at mass and in the procession. Also, Estar en misa y repicando (or Estar en misa y tocar la campana) – To be both at mass and in the bell tower, ringing the bells.
- An culling idiom in Spanish would be No se puede estar al plato y a las tajadas - You tin't pay attending to the plate and to the slices.
- Argentina: La chancha y los veinte. – The pig and the twenties. This comes from the onetime piggy banks for children that used to incorporate coins of 20 cents. The only way to get the coins was to interruption the piggy depository financial institution open up – hence the phrase. This tin can exist emphasized by calculation y la máquina de hacer chorizos – and the car to make sausage.
Swedish: Att äta kakan och ha den kvar. – To eat the cake and notwithstanding have it.
Tamil: மீசைக்கும் ஆசை கூழுக்கும் ஆசை – Desire to accept both the moustache and to potable the porridge.
Telugu: అమ్మ కావాలి బువ్వ కావాలి అంటే సాధ్యం కాదు – You cannot accept both mother and nutrient. (Traditionally, the mother prepares the nutrient in the household.)
Tigrinya: ሰብኣይን ደሊኽን ፣ ጭሕምን ፀሊእኽን ። – You (a lady) wanted a man, but you detest the beard.
Turkish: Ne yardan geçer, ne serden. – Neither giving upward one's lover nor 1'due south self.
Urdu: ایک ٹکٹ میں دو مزے لینآ – Extract double privilege from a unmarried ticket. As well, دو کشتی کا سوار کہیں نہیں جاتا - The rider of ii ships doesn't get anywhere.
Ukrainian: На двох стільцях не всидиш – You lot tin can't sit down on 2 chairs.
Vietnamese: Được cái này mất cái kia. – You proceeds 1 thing simply lose the other.
Welsh: Allwch chi mo'i chael howdy bob ffordd. – You can't take it all ways. Also, Allwch chi ddim cadw torth a'i bwyta hi – You can't keep a loaf and eat it.^[32]
Yoruba: Enikan ki je meji laba alade – Yous can't consume twice at the same time. Likewise, Óó pé láyé, ojú re ò nìí ribi, òkan lóó fowó mú – Yous tin can't live long, and don't desire to witness bad occurrence. Yous've got to cull 1.^[33]

References [edit]

^ "Definition of cake in English language". Oxford Dictionaries.
^ ^a ^b Google Ngram graphs of "my cake", "your cake", "his cake", "her cake", "our cake", and "their cake".
^ Google Ngram graph of consume-have, have-swallow, keep-swallow, and consume-keep variants.
^ Fitzpatrick, John R (15 June 2006). John Stuart Mill's Political Philosophy: Balancing Freedom and the Collective Good. p. 154. ISBN9781847143440.
^ Fullbrook, Edward (21 October 2008). Ontology and Economics: Tony Lawson and His Critics. p. 17. ISBN9780203888773.
^ Suits, Daniel Burbidge (1973). Principles of economics. p. 49. ISBN9780060465285.
^ Messages and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry Viii, Volume 13 Part 1: January-July 1538 (p. 189 ref. 504). British History Online. Establish of Historical Research.
^ Heywood, John (1546). A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue.
^ "block". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Shapiro, Fred R (2006). The Yale Book of Quotations . Yale University Press. p. 614. ISBN9780300107982. "A man cannot eat his block and haue information technology stil.".
^ Swift, Jonathan (1841). The Works of Jonathan Swift ...: Containing interesting and valuable papers.
^ Timothy Fribble (Pseud.), Jonathan Swift (1749). Tittle Tattle.
^ Zimmer, Ben (xviii February 2011). "Accept Your Cake and Swallow Information technology As well". The New York Times.
^ Perry, Toni (fourteen April 2011). "Eat/Have, Have/Eat Your Cake!". ABLE Innovations Weblog. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
^ Speake, Jennifer (2008). A Dictionary of Proverbs. Oxford University Printing. ISBN9780199539536.
^ Fitzgerald, James R. (2004). "Chapter xiv: Using a Forensic Linguistic Approach to Rail the Unabomber". In Campbell, John H.; DeNevi, Don (eds.). Profilers: Leading Investigators Take Y'all Inside The Criminal Mind. Prometheus Books. pp. 205–206. ISBN9781591022664.
^ Geracimos, Ann (12 Jan 2006). "CSI: Language analysis unit". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 17 Jan 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zimmer, Benjamin (14 Jan 2006). "Language Log: Forensic linguistics, the Unabomber, and the etymological fallacy". Language Log. Archived from the original on 30 Apr 2019.
^ Volk, Katharina (2002). The Poetics of Latin Didactic. Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, Manilius. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-924550-9. Archived from the original on 6 Nov 2018.
^ Connolly, Billy. "Billy Connolly'due south 14 things I hate about everybody". Owens World. Archived from the original on 12 Oct 2018.
^ Brians, Paul (19 May 2016). "Common Errors in English: Eat Cake". Washington Country Academy. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
^ Mason, Richard (twenty Jan 2006). "Comment on Having Your Cake and Eating Information technology Too". Tales of the Golem; or, the Modern Epimetheus. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
^ Carey, Stan (30 September 2013). "An idiom that has its cake and eats it". Macmillan Lexicon Blog. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016.
^ "Nə yardan doyur, nə əldən qoyur". world wide web.azleks.az AzLeks (in Azerbaijani).
^ "хем душата в рая, хем кура в гъза | bgjargon.com - речника на улицата". BG Jargon (in Bulgarian). 19 Dec 2016. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017.
^ "Van twee walletjes eten". Onze Taal (in Dutch). 11 May 2011.
^ "De kool en de geit sparen". Onze Taal (in Dutch). 8 Apr 2011.
^ "Wasch mir den Pelz, aber mach mich nicht nass". dict.cc Wörterbuch (in German language).
^ "Wasch mir den Pelz aber mach mich nicht nass". Redensarten-Alphabetize.de (in High german).
^ "Man kann nicht auf zwei Hochzeiten tanzen". dict.cc Wörterbuch (in German language).
^ "Man kann nicht auf zwei Hochzeiten tanzen". Redensarten-Alphabetize.de (in German).
^ Griffiths, Bruce; Jones, Dafydd Glyn (1995). Geiriadur year Academi: The Welsh Academy English–Welsh Lexicon (in Welsh). Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press. p. 191. ISBN9780708311868.
^ Bello-Olówóòkéré, G.A.B. (2004). Ẹgbẹ̀rún ìjìnlẹ̀ òwe Yorùbá : àti ìtumọ̀ wọn ní èdè gẹ̀ẹ́sì [k Yoruba proverbs and their translations in English]. Lagos, Nigeria: Concept Publication. ISBN9789788065203. OCLC 607738697.

External links [edit]

The lexicon definition of accept one's cake and eat it too at Wiktionary
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 Business firm Lexicon of Popular Proverbs and Sayings.