you cannot have your cake and eat it too
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
You cannot enjoy two mutually exclusive things at the same time
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Không thể tận hưởng hai điều trái ngược cùng một lúc
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: eating cake after having it, implying possession and consumption
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” mean?
You cannot enjoy two mutually exclusive things at the same time Literally: eating cake after having it, implying possession and consumption
Is “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.