have it both ways
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Benefit from two incompatible ways of thinking or behaving.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
được lợi từ hai cách nghĩ hoặc hành xử không tương thích
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The Labour party can not have it both ways: it attacks the system either because it expects people to claim or because it requires a register.
Well they can't have it both ways if they can afford to save money they can, but if they don't, then stay in the centre
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “have it both ways” mean?
Benefit from two incompatible ways of thinking or behaving.
Is “have it both ways” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“bỉ sắc tư phong” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.