have one's cake and eat it too

English

Verb

to have one's cake and eat it too

1. (idiomatic) To seek to have two things which are mutually incompatible (such as eating a piece of cake and yet still possessing that piece for future use).

   Do you seriously want to break up with her and still have sex with her? You can't have your cake and eat it too!

Usage notes

• This expression is found almost exclusively in some form of the saying or proverb:

  You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

Translations

to seek to have two things which are mutually incompatible

Alemannic German: de Füfer u's Weggli ha (have the 5p and the roll) Chinese: Mandarin: 魚與熊掌不可兼得 (cmn), 鱼与熊掌不可兼得 (cmn) (yú yǔ xióng zhǎng bù kě jiān dé) ("One cannot get fish and bear's paw at the same time."), 又要馬兒好跑，又要馬兒不吃草 (cmn), 又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草 (cmn) (yòu yào mǎr pǎo, yòu yào mǎr bù chī cǎo) (You want a horse to run, but won't let it graze.) Croatian: (lit. To have the sheep and the money.) Imati ovce i novce. (hr) Danish: man kan ikke både blæse og have mel i munden (da) Finnish: pitää kakku ja syödä se (fi) French: avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre (fr) (to have the butter and the money from [selling] the butter)

German: Man kann nicht gleichzeitig auf zwei Hochzeiten tanzen (de) (One cannot dance on two weddings at the same time.) Icelandic: ekki verður bæði sleppt og haldið (is), bæði sleppa og halda (is), bæði halda og sleppa (is) Italian: non puoi avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca (it) (you can't have a full barrel and a drunk wife) Russian: (lit.: both wolves are satisfied and sheep are safe) и волки сыты и овцы целы (ru) (i vólki sýty i óvcy cély) Spanish: no se puede estar a la vez en la procesión y repicando las campanas (es), Querer el oro y el moro (es)